Resurgence of a Jedi
by efhb1994
Summary: A survivor of the Great Jedi Purge has been hiding in an uncharted system for years. However when Jarik Shan, a Jedi in Hiding exposes himself to SHIELD. His beliefs will be challenged, his allegience will be questioned and his very limits tested as he and HK-47; the most sadistic assassin droid in existance join the Avengers to thwart Loki's plot. (Being revised/rewritten)
1. Return of an Exile

**A/N:** _Hello there, welcome to this fanfic which I felt needed to be written. I've recently seen the new Avengers movie, Age of Ultron twice and I thought. Hey, what if a Jedi Knight was in it? I also saw the first Avenger's movie with my younger brother who hadn't even seen it and I imagined a Jedi Knight standing in the shot where the Avengers stood back to back with the Chitauri turning all their attention to them._

 _However, a good story needs a good introduction and story hook. You can't just throw a character into a movie plot. No, I'll throw him in earlier to the end of Ironman 2. I'll be as authentic to the canon of the star wars franchise and the cinematic marvel universe except for a couple of adjustments making it all slightly AU._

 _I did consider whether to have a Jedi Knight from the Old Republic era (SWTOR) or from the Rise of the Empire era around the Great Jedi Purge. I decided with the later since the Jedi are here fugitives and it fits a lot better for a Jedi Knight to be in exile on Earth which is inhabited by six billions people rather than the Hero of Tython being stuck there for absolutely no reason._

 **…**

His nostrils flared up and widen as he inhaled the oxygen. Calm and composed as he held his breath. All the while considering and weighing heavily on the mantra during his many hours of meditation.

 _There is no emotion, there is peace._

He exhaled as he found the peace within, he felt the force all around him even though he was among the last of his order since the Rise of the Empire. The galactic bastion of democracy had become the bastion of oppression and tyranny. Jarik had taken his time to contemplate his life. He was conceived on Mandalore and was raised by his parents until he came to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant to be trained as a Jedi. He advanced rather quickly in the group classes and eventually was taken on as a Padawan by Master Rahm Kota.

 _There is no ignorance, there is knowledge._

He was an adolescent when the Clone Wars began and served with his Jedi Master who became a respected General in the Grand Army of the Republic. Master Kota believed that clones were unfit to be soldiers and thus trained his own militia of volunteers and freed prisoners of war. Jarik found it unethical to have the Republic to have the backbone of its military consisted of living beings bred to serve like slaves. It baffled him that the bastion of galactic democracy actually condoned the grand slave army.  
 _  
There is no passion, there is serenity.  
_  
It was during the Clone Wars which while serving with Rahm Kota and his militia that he completed his Jedi Trials. He passed the Trials of Skill and Courage when he faced one of Count Dooku's Dark Acolytes whom had been dispatched to kill Rahm Kota.

However, his father had joined the Mandalorian Protectors under spar and was fighting with the separatists. When Father and son meets one another on the battlefield, they had no choice but to fight one another. He passed the trial of the flesh by defeating his father in combat, severing his hand and endured the emotionally trauma which followed. He entered a deep meditation with his trial of the spirit, facing his inner darkness which was represented by no other than Darth Revan. It was a confrontation that he wasn't going to forget anytime soon. Lastly, his trial of insight involved him solving the High Riddles of Dwartii which while a challenge wasn't impossible to solve.

 _There is no chaos, there is harmony._

He had officially become a Jedi Knight shortly before the end of the Clone Wars. When Order Sixty Six was executed. With Jedi all over the galaxy being shot down by the clones under their command. He and his master went into hiding in the outer rim and the militia disappeared with them.

 _There is no death, there is the force.  
_  
They agreed to split up to make sure that if one of them are caught, the other wouldn't be compromised. That was five years ago, Jarik Shan was still exiled but in an uncharted system. Some may wonder why and his answer would've been more cryptic than the question.

His eyes snapped open as the alarm clock beeped, he complied and get up from his bed which he used to sit and meditate early in the mornings, contemplating the past, the present and possibly the future.

Jarik Shan looked quite serene with his brown hair and sideburns. He had a slender yet appropriate build and stood at 5'7" in height. Snub-nosed with Keen and intelligent blue eyes in his sockets.

A Jedi Knight in his full right but no longer wore the ceremonial and accustomed robes of the order. Instead he dressed himself with a pair of jeans and a shirt with a sleek leather jacket. He found a lot of people wore on their feet something called _converse_ and tried a pair of those but didn't really find them to be quite practical. Instead he chose to wear a pair of thick wander boots.

He left his apartment with the morning rush in New York City, his gaze looked up at the new tower being constructed by Tony Stark otherwise known as Ironman. He smiled at the notion, he's done his research on the man. He wasn't that all impressed of what the earthlings called _playboy_ attitude.

He passed a news stand, bought a newspaper which had the date printed in the corner _31_ _st_ _May, 2011_ he started to read while enjoying a cup of coffee. Apparently Hammer Industries will have a presentation to make at the Stark Expo in Queens tonight. He had a feeling in the force that something was going down that night. He needed to be there.

Jarik had other things on his mind though. He needed money to pay the rent for his apartment, stuff which he never before had to worry about. He had sliced or what they on Earth called Hacked through the firewalls and security measures of various records and created Jack Shawn.

…

Agent Barbara Morse, codename _Mockingbird_ had her eyes on the target, Jack Shawn. He was walking through the door to his workplace at Best Buy. SHIELD has kept their eyes on him for a while now. He appeared seemingly out of nowhere and with no trace to follow. There were no records of him, digital or otherwise until a few years ago when he first started to work with the customer support department of Best Buy.

He went behind the customer support counter when she approached him with that smile of hers which would make any guy swoon, deceivingly sweet and charming. "Hi, I'm Barbara Falkner. I'm your new co-worker in the customer support." She said smoothly, she was a head turner and she knew it.

"Oh, yes. The boss said you were starting today. Welcome, I'm Jack Shawn." He retorted without a beat, a polite smile on his face as he extended a hand for her to shake. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance." Inwardly she was taken back by his calm and diligent reaction, especially for a guy working at an electronics store. She was usually good at reading people and getting inside their mind but this guy was quite a challenge. Courteous yet stoic, distant yet present. She couldn't put a finger on it but this guy was special.

"Pleasure is all mine." She responded charmingly with a smile before taking her seat next to him. She had to take another approach to get information from him. It was going to take time but he was a complete enigma and SHIELD didn't like complete enigmas. When the shift started they were busy answering calls and provide customer support over phones. She tried to get him to talk during the lunch break but he didn't really budge, even with her flirty advances. At the end of their shift they were talking as the employees were closing up shop.

"So, what are you tonight?" she asked, giving him a deceiving hint that she was interested. It looked like he wasn't going to respond but he diligently answered. "I was thinking of going to see the Hammer Industries presentation at the Stark Expo."

"Sounds like fun, mind if I join you? I just recently moved to New York and don't have a lot of friends." She continued to elaborate. He smiled as he gave her a curt nod. "Sure, why not?"

She smiled as she finally seem to make some progress. "Great, I see you outside the park around Seven o' clock?" Jack smiled back rather politely, "Yes, see you then."

…

Jarik waited outside the Expo, he wore a suit and one of those ties around his neck. A sense of fashion these earthlings had developed which he didn't really fully understand. He wondered why he even agreed to this, to come here with a woman of all things. He could imagine his master's disapproval but the woman wasn't legitimately interested in him, she was spying on him and he wanted to find out why. "Hey handsome."

He turned around and if he wasn't a trained Jedi, his jaw would've dropped at the sight of her dress, it was smooth and elegant with a bare back too. She is what the patrons at a Cantina would call, a vixen. "Good evening, miss Falkner." He diligently responded. She raised her eyebrows a bit at his response. Did he do something wrong? "Well, shall we enter?" He continued as he extended his arm, she moved her arm around his as they entered the park.

"Are you always this formal?" She inquired, tilting her head to the side as she glanced at him. Yes, this was perhaps too formal and what he understood as awkward for earthlings. "Part of my upbringing." He responded which she pursed her lips and nodded.

They hurried along to get to their seats, a shame as he would've otherwise loved to explore the actual park. The sound of music was playing in the speakers and a man was dancing out on the stage. Jarik recognized him as Justin Hammer, Founder and CEO of Hammer Industries whose logo was displayed in the background. Jarik could tell that his dance moves weren't all that particularly good, he have seen Rodians high on death sticks do better. Fortunately for the crowd, he stopped dancing when he reached the glass podium at the front and center of the stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, for far too long has this county place its brave men and women in harm's way. But then the Ironman arrive and we thought the days of losing lives were behind us. Sadly, that technology was kept out of reach. That's not fair. That's not right. That's just too bad." He spoke, trying to be charismatic and impressive but so far Jarik could tell that people weren't exactly hooked but they didn't outright disagree either.

"Regardless, it was an impressive innovation which grabbed the headlines world over. But today my friends, the press is faced with a different problem. They're about to run out of ink!" The man proceeded with what was supposed to be a punchline of a joke, the only response was a few people awkwardly clapping. Two employees came onto the stage and rolled the glass podium on the wheels by the legs. Justin coughed to clear his throat before continuing to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Today I present to you. The new face of United States Military!" He says as he turned around and gestured his hands as floor panels moved aside "The Hammer drones!"

Jarik tensed up when he saw the drones as the patriotic music played in the background. The display changed to the American flag. The drones, they reminded him of the Clone Wars, of the seperatist's droid armies which he had to fight. Barbara noticed his behavior and perked her brows a bit, seemingly puzzled by how tense he just got. "Hey, are you alright?"

Jarik took a deep breath as he glances towards her and nods. "Yeah, just have a bad feeling about drones in general." He whispered back as his attention returned to the presentation. "Army!" Justin announced as eight drone of a plain color which while similar in the build of a man in armor but with the head of a droid and with anti-air slugthrowers above the shoulder. Hammer swirled around and gestured to a different collection of eight blue-colored drones but this time they had missile turrets on their shoulders. "Navy!"

"Airforce!" Another platform moved and showed drones with what Jarik presumed to be jetpack and then opposite of them were drones with camouflage pattern. "Marines!" Jarik counted them real quick, they were thirty two in total and there were plenty of applauds now as the patriotic music ceased.

"That's a lot better than some cheer leaders, let me tell you." Justin spoke a bit smugly as he continued. "But as revolutionary as this technology is, there will always be need for man to be present in the theatre of war. Ladies and gentlemen, today I'm proud to present to you the very first prototype of variable-threat-response-battle suit and its pilot, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes!"

Another floor panel slide to the side and what Jarik saw was remarkable. It was the Ironman suit, well. It looked quite a lot like it but thicker and with quite an arsenal to go with it, a War Machine. The War Machine salutes with all the drones saluting in synchronization. Jarik could honestly say that he was impressed by the humans' ingenuity, somehow it makes him think of HK-47 which was told to be the ultimate Jedi killer and assassination droid to have ever existed.

"For America and its allies, Hammer Industries reporting for—" Justin Hammer would've continued but was interrupted by a thundering sound of something approaching which have the audience turn their heads to see Ironman make an entrance. Landing upon the front and central platform directly in-front of Hammer and Rhodes. The crowd went wild, stood up and applauded. Jarik had to admit, Stark knew how to make an entrance. Ironman walked next to War Machine and waved back at the audience while Justin paced with false excitement and trying to make it look like he was with Stark on this by rousing the crowd. He felt it in the force, something was going to happen. Soon.

Ironman stepped away and towards Hammer who turned to face him. Jarik couldn't hear of what they spoke of but he closed his eyes and reached out in the force. Trying to see what sight couldn't provide him with. There was tension building between the two and it was building.

Ironman then turned around to face War Machine whom suddenly the six-barrel chain gun pointed at Stark. His body tensed as what unfolded seem to occur as such a rate where he felt disconnected to his physical body. Rhodes seemed equally distressed over what was happening, like if he wasn't in control of his armor. The army of drones raised their right arms as one, in the direction of the crowd who went into a state of panic. Ironman flew up through the window, fortunately all the drones were aiming at Stark.

He knew what would come next, the air force drones would fly after him with Rhodes at the lead. The other drones would move out and cause some strife for the audience and attendants of the expo. Barbara was pulling his arm as the rest of the people panicked and ran for it. His premonitions became reality and he knew it was a matter of time. The glass above the stage and the dome shattered by the now flying air force drones.

Ironman made a turn as the drones fired at him, shattering the windows of the on-looking tower next to the expo dome. The crowd were still running around in panic and the army and navy drones were marching forward. Their very presence sowing forward.

The Navy drones with the missile turrets exits the domes and looks like they were ready to fire as Jarik ran with Barbara away. He turned around when he noticed they were about to fire. Barbara turned to look the Jedi's way. "What are you doing? We have to run!"

"Barbara." He said as he glanced over his shoulder at her, seeing what seemed to be concern on her face. "I'm done running." He responded as he took a balanced stance and lifted his hands, feeling the force around him as the drones fired the missiles as artillery pieces all over the expo which would cause a lot of collateral damages and casualties. When they fired, he reached out through the force and grabbed the missiles. He recall what Master Yoda once has said; _do or do not, there is no try._

The missile reached their highest altitude but reached no further but hovered in the air. Barbara was staring at him with wide eyes as he closed his palm into fists and dented the shells, having them combust in the air instead of the intended targets making them nothing more than ugly fireworks. The crowd were still running and rightly so, except for Barbara which seemed far to calm for any civilian had right to be.

She seemed to be at lost for words as he stepped towards the navy drones, drawing something which he had hidden in the sleeve of his jacket. To anyone, it would look like a thin cylinder can or shell with no purpose but it had a purpose, it was the hilt of his lightsaber. He activated it, the blue blade was held in a parry position on his dominant side, his feet were evenly spaced; taking a defensive neutral position which was intended to provide the maximum amount of blade surface area for blast-deflection or in this case, slug-absorption along maximizing its visual impact as a warning.

Considering that no one had seen a lightsaber yet a Jedi before, everyone moved away from him. Wary and afraid but he had their attention. The navy and army drones were targeting him and not the civilians. Jarik spoke loud and clearly "Barbara, go!" he declared as he took the resilience form, Soresu as the drones fired upon him, using tight motions with his lightsaber to achieve total-protection from the slugs which were disintegrated instead of deflected like blaster fire.

He had a calm center and was the eye of the storm which were gunfire and didn't allow himself to be distracted nor disturbed by what was occurring around him. However, he managed to analyze the gunfire. The slugs was travelling slower than ordinary blasters thus should be more manageable. He then darted forward and changed to Schii-Cho where he performed a Sarlacc Sweep, amputating the closest drone's legs as he ducked down as the drones fired too late and hit one another. He pushed out, sending the drones to his left away thrashing against the stairs as he turned his attention to what was left on his right flank, going on the offensive and managed to make a disarming slash at the closest drone and then used him as a meatshield for the rest who were standing on the right flank before he force pushed it into another and performed a Shien deflection, his blade disintegrating the slug as he leaps towards his target and cleaved it in half.

Turning around to face the left flank which rose again, lifted his hand to grasp the remains of the drones and hurled them at the opposing drones which were about to open fire, the drone piece knocked them back, throwing off the aim as the Jedi closed the distance and finished them off, the Force enhancing his speed.

He took a deep breath, there were no premonitions of something attacking him. The other drones were focusing on Ironman. He noticed how the marine drones were now finally deployed and thrusts themselves up in the air. The Army drones were now firing their Anti-Air Slugthowers towards Ironman who looks like he could manage on his own and did what he could to avoid collateral damage. He rose his hand, using the force to lift the navy drone remains and hurl them towards the army drone, the impact staggering them to the degree where their shots became more inaccurate.

He moved in, determined to finish the drones to prevent further collateral damage. They tried to fire upon him after determining him as a threat but he was already upon them and utilized the same tactics used on the navy drones, using the force to enhance his speed and the velocity of his lightsaber. Leaving the dismembered drones littering in a pile. When he deactivated the lightsaber, he could feel the many eyes which were upon him.

He turned to face the Police officers along with Pepper Potts, the new CEO of Stark Industries along with Barbara Falkner. They were all speechless and frightened. While Barbara seemed more composed than the rest, she seemed tenser than before. So much for blending in. He then sensed it, the glass shattering at the dome surrounding the serene garden. He then looked at the drones and upon seeing their red center blink at shorter intervals.

"Move!" Jazik voiced, rushing away with the force enhancing his speed as he grasped Barbara and pulled her away from the blast zone. Pepper Pots was carried away to safety by Ironman to a nearby rooftop outside the park. He could feel the cold ire of Barbara upon him and the premonition of her martial prowess, she were about to warp her arm around him and compress the carotid arteries in hope to subdue him. He used the force to push her away, she rolled upon the pavement before getting back on her feet with a gun in her hand pointing at him. However before any shots could be fired, the gun flew out of her grasp and into Jarik's hand who was now, staring right back at her. "What are you?" She asked warily but composed.

"I'm a Jedi Knight." He elaborated as he dropped the pistol to the ground. "As to what a Jedi Knight is. Well, that's a more difficult question to answer." He continued to elaborate as he put on what people would call a poker face.

She just stared at him and the gun, seemingly taken back by how he pulled it from her grasp without even moving it. "You do realize that you can't just walk away from this." She spoke composed with a tempered voice. She had nerves of steel and courage which was quite unfound in others. She was a warrior in her own right and a cunning one too.

"I'm well aware of that fact." He spoke with a tone which betrayed his emotions. "You were spying on me, Barbara. I don't know for whom but since you've not made a hostile move towards me save for now. I'd say that your intentions are noble." He kicked the gun back over to her whom seemed a bit puzzled over the development. "I'd like to meet the person in charge."

She seemed a bit reluctant but then finally moved her hand to press it against her hidden earpiece. "Mockingbird here, assignment parameters have changed, I need a pickup." She held the gun now but it was pointing towards the ground.

"I can't promise you anything, Jedi. Except that if you run, you will be hunted and there will be no place on Earth where we can't find you. However, if you come with me peacefully then I'll put in a good word for you. Does that sound reasonable?" She spoke, closing the distance as she extended her hand into a handshake as she stared into his blue eyes. Jarik had obviously underestimated the humans' Intelligence services. Besides, he don't need other than the Imperials hunting him. He offered his hand and shook it courteously. "My name is Jarik Shan, Knight of the Jedi Order."

"And I'm Barbara Morse, Agent of SHIELD."


	2. New Possibilities

**_A/N:_** _Thanks for the response to this fanfiction so far! I'm glad there are some people besides myself who enjoys it. At any rate, I've decided to incorporate more Star Wars aspects besides a Jedi into this story._

…

Jarik sat in a chair in a dimly lit room. He'd been lead here after being picked up with Agent Morse and put on a blindfold until recently. Opposite of him sat a man which Jarik didn't expect. A man which resembled a lot like Mace Windu, a Korrun Jedi Master of Legendary status of the Order and the creator of Vaapad, the seventh form of lightsaber combat. The man looked a bit older than Mace Windu and he also had an eyepatch covering the left eye.

"I'll get straight to the point." He spoke with a stern tone which reminded him of Mace Windu but a lot blunter and dare he say colder? "There's a lot of people who would like to get their hands of you and your laser sword after how you dispatched sixteen military prototype drones single-handedly."

"You could've run, remained inconspicuous, another nobody but you decided to make a stand and saved lives." He continued to speak, this time the tone was a stern version of praising. "Agent Morse described the event in her report detail. However, I'd like to get the information straight from the horse's mouth and that's you. Are you following me so far?"

Jarik curtly nodded back to the Director SHIELD, the close resemblance between Fury and Windu could hardly be a coincidence. Could it be the will of the Force? "What is a Jedi Knight and why was he working in an electronics store?"

"For over a thousand of generations, the Jedi Knights were guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic." Jarik spoke solemnly, Fury remained quiet and observant with a stare which could pierce into a man's mind. "A Jedi lives by a code. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force."

"The Force?" The Director inquired with a frown but overall curiously. Jarik obliged the curiousity by answered the question. "My telekinetic ability, it comes through the Force. You could say it's what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together."

"Are you telling me that Jedi Knights are fanatical warrior monks with telekinetic abilities?" Director Fury inquired and Jarik cracked up a smile. "A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense. Never for attack. Telekinesis as you call is described as just one aspect of the Force. For instance, I could see what surrounds me in spite of the blindfold."

"That's incredible. What about this?" Director Fury spoke as he took out the Jedi's lightsaber. "Where does this fit in?"

"That's my lightsaber, the formal weapon of a Jedi knight. What you hold is a hilt and if you press that button. It'll emit a blade of pure plasma suspended in a containment force field. Not everyone can wield a lightsaber, the blade is weightless thus a Jedi's precognition is necessary. By that I mean seeing the danger before it happens. That's how I managed to use the lightsaber to disintegrate every shot fired at me by the drones. However, it also require control to exercise the more advanced forms of lightsaber combat." Fury nodded as he looked down at the Lightsaber hilt, obviously intrigued of how the Lightsaber while a weapon could only be used to its full potential by a Jedi. "If it's such a formidable weapon, then how did you lose the war?"

Jarik perked his eyebrow, obviously impressed that the Director could've come to that conclusion. "The Force has many aspects, even sides of light and darkness. The Jedi Order has always been aligned with the Light Side of the Force but there were those who were seduced by the Dark Side, they were known as the Sith. We thought them gone forever since a millennia back. However, they had just changed from an entire order to the Rule of Two; a master and an apprentice." The Jedi's tone became more solemn as he was about to explain further. "The Clone Wars was a conflict of a galactic scale between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. It was all orchestrated by the Sith whom brought an end to the Jedi Order and the Republic, giving rise to the Galactic Empire. We didn't realize it until it was too late."

"So, if I get it right. The Sith are bad guys who turned a galactic republic into a galactic empire?" Fury said, more of a statement rather a question. "Does that mean that a galactic bastion of democracy was converted into a galactic bastion of tyranny and oppression?"

"Yes. The Sith Lord who orchestrated it all declared himself Emperor. He started the Great Jedi Purge, used the Grand Army of the Republic to exterminate our order and the Emperor won't stop until every last Jedi are dead." Jarik explained, his voice more solemn as the grief behind it all was evident.

"For what it's worth, you've my sincere condolences. However, I have to ask. Is the Empire a threat to us?" Fury asked sternly but warily. The Jedi shook his head. "Your planet is considered a myth, one of the Nine Realms. However, should the Empire discover you then they will stop at nothing to subjugate you."

"Moving on, you never answered why you were working in an electronics store, you have a lot of money saved up in your account. I doubt you just took refuge here. You came here for a reason and I'd like to know how you got here if Earth was just a myth?" Coulson finally asked where upon Jarik sighed, he knew that his answer wouldn't satisfy the Agent or his superiors in the least. "Believe it or not, The Force guided me."

"The Force guided you?" Director Fury mused irritably as he spoke to the Jedi. "What stops the Sith to find it aswell?"

"Because they'll be preoccupied with rebel cells operating in the Outer Rim." Jarik spoke back curtly. "I remain in refuge here so the way of the Jedi doesn't die out."

"Why you of all the surviving Jedi?" Director Fury said accusingly as he rose to his feet, palms now pressed against the table as he loomed over him. Yet the Jedi was unintimidated by the Director. "Because the Force is strong within my family. My ancestors were heroes of the Old Republic. However, there's one whom stood above the rest. Revan – Saviour, Conqueror, Hero and Villain. His alignment was neither the Light nor the Dark Side of the Force. He defied the Jedi Council's wish with the Revanchist movement and joined the Mandalorian Wars where he was appointed Supreme Commander of the Republic and is praised as the Prodigal Knight." He explained, leaving out the part about Revan's fall to the dark side and actual story of how he came to be the Prodigal Knight. He didn't need them to think of Revan as a hypocrite when they didn't even understood the concept of the Force.

Director Fury stared at him and nodded. "Let's say that I believe you. Then what? I'll just let you walk out of here and resume your life like nothing happened? You can't be that naïve to believe that nothing has changed. The world know now of whom you are." The Director let the message sink in before continuing. "I'll give you a deal, how would you feel about being a part of a team with remarkable individuals to defend Earth when no one else could? The Avenger's Initiative is intended as a response team to fight threats which the regular forces can't handle."

"One of these threats would potentially be the Empire." Jarik stated in response and Fury nodded in acknowledgement. "I'll be damned before I let some interstellar bad guys subjugate the Earth. If you co-operate with us then we'll keep the rest of the world off your back."

The Jedi has already been betrayed once but Jarik had a good feeling about Fury in spite of his cold demeanor. "In that case, I accept your offer." Fury hinted a smile as he got up to his feet. "Good." He simple said as he turns about, walking to the door before stopping and casting a glance towards the Jedi. "You'll in this facility for a few days while we cover things up and tie up some loose ends." With that said, he left the room.

...

Agent Phil Coulson was looking through the security camera at Jarik Shan whom had for the past twelve hours just been sitting there in deep meditation. Clad in his usual black suit and tie, the experienced SHIELD agent has reviewed the data so far on the Jedi and it was fascinating to say the least that the nine realms theory was supported by a second source, except it was like on Earth considered a myth. It got Phil to wonder if the Galactic Empire or Asgard was more advanced. He hoped the later as from what Jarik had told them about a powered individual managing to change a governmental political for a whole galaxy makes him sincerely hope that they will have nothing to do with them.

"Agent Morse, what are your thoughts?" He spoke to the agent next to him whom now wore her tactical gear. She pursed her lips in thought. "From day one, his behavior pattern has been unchanged. Always calm and serene, he takes this Jedi Code quite seriously."

"There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force." Coulson mused, having listened to that part over and managed to get some answers but also more questions than the answers. Where did the Jedi come from? How did they train and what was the purpose? Those and more fills up in the Agent's head but the biggest question of them all was the Force itself, he claimed it guide him here and in the way he spoke as if it was alive, sentient. "What does that even mean – There is no death, there is the Force?"

"Maybe that the Force is also their version of heaven?" Agent Morse commented as she shrugged, trying to feign her lack of interest in the matter while in truth, she wanted to know more and understand the man who seems to detached from the world while still be one whom were most aware.

…

Jarik remembered the days of the Clone Wars quite vividly, even more so when he was meditating. The recent confrontation with the drones from Hammer Industries had stirred something in him. Memories which he rather forget. The day when he and his father met on the field of battle. He was still a Padawan back then and he along with his master Rahm Kota were out leading the Militia in combat against the Mandalorian Protectors on Belsavis. It was a brutal confrontation and Jarik recalls the Antarian Ranger, Ranger Captain Allen Durame whom had proved himself to be quite distinguished and capable of leading the militia in the absence of both Master Kota and himself.

The engagement had begun on the lower levels in the labyrinths where Jarik saw his father in his beskar'gam, _iron skin_ on Mando'a. His armor was green, reflecting his duty to his people and he wielded a Beskade, an ancient and traditional mandalorian curved blade of a fourty five centimeter in length and six centimeter in width. It was only sharpened on one side and it weighed around two kilograms. When they eyes met, neither wavered physically but Jarik knew of whom he faced and so did his father.

Their duel down in the labyrinth was hard-fought as a Mandalorian with a beskade would've proved a match for a Jedi, the warrior of greater skill would've won except that the mandalorian wasn't trying to win. It was painful to recall how his father had deliberately made an error and paid for it with his life. The lightsaber pierced through a weakspot in the armor as his father crumbled, his last words "Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum." resonates inside him to this day. His father's last words had been, I love you.

He snapped out of the painful memories when he heard the door open and that a tear had run down his cheek. Quickly wiping it away as his ire was placed upon a man smartly dressed in a black suit and a tie. He had a friendly demeanor and a smile on his face as he stepped forth. "Jarik Shan, I'm Agent Phil Coulson. We've retrieved some of your belongings at your apartment in Queens and I have to say. It's not what I expected."

Jarik knew of what Coulson spoke of, his Beskar'gam which he obtained shortly after Order Sixty Six was issued. It was colored blue, representing his reliability. The Mandalorian armor weighed around ten kilograms and thus took quite a while for him to get used too but it was a necessity to go unnoticed by the Empire, posing as Mandalorian Mercenary had been easy especially if you spoke fluent Mando'a. He hadn't worn it since the day he came to Earth. "It's a Mandalorian body armor, I'd prefer you didn't dissembled it. It's the only thing I have left of my people." He spoke which earned him what he recognized as sympathy from Coulson who nodded. "You can trust us, your armor and your lightsaber is in good hands. We just don't like having armed guests around here." He responded with a faint smile.

"That's not why I wanted to talk with you. You see, I'm curious about your order. The way your code sounds. It almost seem like a harsh and lonely life."

"The Life of a Jedi is a Life of Sacrifice." Jarik spoke, containing his own emotions at this point. "We must remain unbiased and thus are prohibited from any attachments. We don't take anyone's side, only that of Justice."

"You'll make an excellent Avenger, I can already tell. I'm sure our consultant would like to meet you aswell." Coulson responded with a twinkle in his eye which got Jarik's curiousity. "And who may that be?"

"Tony Stark."


	3. Times gone by

**_A/N:_** _Here it is, the next chapter where Jarik Shan meets Tony Stark, face to face. I was wary writing this chapter due to being afraid of portraying Tony Stark and Pepper Potts wrong. Nonetheless, I borrowed elements from the Iron Man 3 Prelude comic to flesh the chapter up a bit to bridge the story from where we are now to where we are going. Also, I hope you like the surprise at the end and that I'm not rushing the story.  
_

"Are you sure about this?" Coulson inquired as he drove the car up to the Stark Mansion in Malibu. "You do realize he's deemed as volatile, self-obsessed and don't work well with others?"

"Trust in the Force Coulson." Jarik answered cryptically which had Coulson raise an eyebrow, pondering if this was really a good idea after all. It was late in the Afternoon thus the CEO ought to be at Stark Mansion and easier to deal with Stark. "Trusting in something supernatural isn't really something that happens overnight."

Jarik only nodded, not wanting to tell Coulson as to why he requested to meet Stark once he learned Ironman was a SHIELD Consultant. The Jedi Knight still contemplated about everything that happened and found solace in a message sent out to the surviving Jedi after Order Sixty Six was issued.

 _This is Master Obi-wan Kenobi, I regret to report that both our Jedi order and the Republic have fallen with the dark shadow of the Empire rising to take their place. This message is a warning and a reminder for any surviving Jedi. Trust in the Force; do not return to the Temple, that time has passed and our future is uncertain. We will each be challenged; our trust, our faith, our friendships. But we must persevere and in time, a new hope will emerge. May the Force be with you, always._

The High General's words was reassuring, to trust in the Force. In spite of what had happened, they had to persevere. The Force had now guided him to the Stark Mansion of all places on this day. There's no such thing as coincidence or luck, only the Force.

Coulson parked the car just in front of the entrance, unbuckling the seat belt as both of them got out of the car and approached the front door and knocked. The door was soon opened up by a ginger-haired woman which Jarik immediately recognized as Viginia "Pepper" Potts, CEO of Stark Industries. "Hello Phil, you didn't say you were going to stop by—" She said but stopped in the middle of her sentence when she saw Jarik.

"It's alright Miss Potts, he's with me." Coulson said reassuringly. Pepper shook her head a bit bewildered. "Please, do come in." She opened up the door allowing the two to enter. They could hear Stark's protests as he got up to his feet. He stood a few inches taller than Jarik, his black hair and neatly trimmed beard fits his visage appropriately while on his chest was the famous miniature arc reactor. A piece of technology which wasn't even invented back in the Galactic Empire.

"Do you want some wine?" Pepper asked but both of the guest declined. "Mister Stark—" Coulson began to speak but Tony rudely interrupted. "Skip the pleasantries, who is he?" Pepper sighed as she went into the Kitchen to pour up some wine.

"Straight to the point. Shall you or shall I?" Phil Coulson queried, well aware that delaying Stark with pleasantries annoyed the man. The other man nodded courteously before taking a step forward and extending his right hand. "I'm Jarik Shan, pleased to meet you." Pepper Potts seemed a bit wary at first, she obviously recognized Jarik from the Expo and he wasn't really dressed subtly either. He no longer wore a suit or a tie but instead his Beskar'gam, the full blue colored mandalorian body armor was mostly concealed underneath the duster coat with the exception of the gauntlets and the boots.

Tony would only sneer down at the gauntlet. "Yeah, I don't shake hands with strangers." He replied snarkly as was his trademark. Tony could've gotten more of a reaction from a dog, Jarik was still smiling but withdrew his hand. "Understandable, you're a famous billionaire and I'm a stranger."

Coulson seemed very amused as Tony's gaze met Jarik's. "You were there at the expo, the guy with the laser sword—" The Jedi interrupted before Tony could finish his sentence the man had lifted his hand from the body and the cylinder looking device flew to his hand as he pressed a button and a blue beam emitted from the now obvious hilt. "Lightsaber is the proper term." Pepper Potts returned with a glass of wine in hand but stopped right in her track when she saw the blade. "Oh my god." She muttered to herself.

Tony Stark had deduced Whiplash's electrified whips quite easily but right now, he was at loss for words. Coulson snickered to himself, apparently finding his loss for words quite amusing to say the least.

"Fret not, Stark. You're still the brightest engineer on this Planet." Jarik said with a friendly tone before pressing the same button and the beam withdraw back into the hilt. "In short, I'm from a planet called Mandalore which is in a galaxy far from here."

Stark's eyes went wide, an alien. He was actually talking with an alien? "You're an alien? An actual alien in my workshop?" He voiced in disbelief but pondered the possibilities, this was quite remarkable that there were other planets with human beings. Pepper Potts took another sip from the wine, a big one.

"Was that telekinesis?" He inquired whereupon Jarik nodded, this time it was Tony's turn to smirk. "Prove it wasn't magnetic." He then wish he hadn't asked when Jarik closed his eyes and Tony was hovering a few centimeters above the floor. Pepper Potts dropped the glass of wine but before it hit the floor and shattered, it just stopped. "Alright, I believe you. Alien from outer space with telekinesis and lightsaber was it?" he spoke trying to save face while the wine glass floated back up and put down on a table while Pepper looked on bewildered. "I understand it can be hard to process, the fact that you're not alone in the universe." Jarik spoke calmly as his eyes opened, seeing both Tony and Pepper staring right at him. "However, as far as humans go on this world, you're among the smartest." He said, directly to Tony.

"Wait, whom are the others?" Tony suddenly retorted while the rest seem very amused by his response. "That's irrelevant now, don't you think?"

"Bantering aside." Coulson interrupted, stepping forth as he became more serious. "Jarik here is an asset for SHIELD and is being relocated to Los Angeles for the time being." He said with a wide smile.

"Wait, that's it?" Tony asked with a perked brow while Pepper walked up right beside Tony. "Yep. Jarik's abilities isn't limited to telekinesis but also precognition, he can sense danger before it happens. That's why he was at the Stark Expo, he knew something was going to happen but not what. I'll be busy for a while so Jarik will be SHIELD's new liaison to Stark Industries."

Tony looked like he was about to object but stayed his tongue when Pepper elbowed him. "I'll schedule a meeting first thing tomorrow." She politely responded as he reached for the wine glass and had a sip. "Don't I have a say in this?"

The side-way glance from Pepper told Tony that he didn't.

…

Virginia Potts was dressed in red as she stood on the podium with the skyscraper construction behind her. "Thank you all for coming. I'm Virginia Potts with Stark Industries, and I'm thrilled to be here. It's not every day you get a chance to change the face of New York." She said with a sincerity in her voice, she was thrilled over the announcement she was making. "First I'm happy to announce that all damage resulting from the Stark Expo incident has been repaired, at the sole expense of Stark Industries. Now the long historic and mutually beneficial relationship between Stark and New York can once again turn in the direction it's always faced: toward the future." Journalists, Photographers, Television cameras and news reporters. All of them was listening and on the verge to ask their questions.

"It is with great pleasure that I present to you the plans for the structure you see going up behind me: Stark Tower. The very first completely clean-energy-powered skyscraper in Manhattan… and what we hope will be a model for future development in the greatest city in the world." With that said, all the questions was thrown at her like barrages. She rolled her eyes as her phone dialed for the sixth time, she answers it promptly. "I don't need a caller ID to know who'd call me in the middle of a press conference. Six times. Hello Tony."

"Hey, Look, I can see my future house from here. Heck of a job Pepper. That went perfectly." Tony Stark said over the phone. "Ofcouse, I said what was on the teleprompter. You should try it sometime." She teased back and naturally, Tony's celebrate was literally textbook narcissism. "See, that's why I need you: you think inside the box. Let's celebrate. I've got a bottle of dom with your name on it."

"That would go nicely with date night. Which I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you remember is tomorrow." She subtlety warned over the tone, Tony's tone didn't change but he got the hint. "Pepper, I'm hurt. Ofcouse I remember. I'm having my suit altered right now. See you then."

…

"Your suit?" James Rhodes inquired with a perked brow down in Tony's workshop at the mansion in Malibu where Tony himself was busy dismantling the Mark 2 armor as she responded to his old college friend. "Yeah, well, even though you wore it, technically it's always been mine because you… what's the word… Stole it."

"Finally. Seeing all the Hammer tech on my armor is like watching a four-year old finger paint on Mona Lisa." Stark said, throwing away the gatling gun to the scrap pile of Hammer tech. Jarik Shan smirked at the insult, dressed in a suit and tie to blend in when working as SHIELD's liaison to Stark Industries.

"Uh-huh, Well from where I'm standing, you just took out all the offensive weapons. Which is gonna be kind of a problem when I'm on the frontlines." The Air Force officer complained as Tony removed the glasses as he decisively spoke. "No problem at all. You won't be wearing the Mark 2 anymore."

Rhodes looked a bit bewildered as if not annoyed as he proceeded with trying to talk him down "Come on. Are we really going to do this again?" Stark turned around, facing his friend as he spoke. "What. Beat me up and take my stuff? It was never really calibrated for you Rhodey. You're lucky it didn't give you a heart attack."

"Tony, this is not the time to start fighting this battle with Pentagon again. The Fiasco with hammer has them on defensive." Rhodes starts to explain, Jarik listening attentively but not saying a word. "I got them to agree to agree that all Stark Tech remains proprietary to you as long as War Machine is on loan to the department of defense—" But Rhodes didn't get to finish the sentence when Stark suddenly interrupted him. "You're actually calling it War Machine? I meant that as an insult."

"If you're gonna try play hardball, if you're gonna take your toys and go home, I promise you that _DOD_ will find a way to make your life miserable!" Rhodes loudly spoke, having both Stark's and Jarik's attention as Tony smirked taking up a remote and spoke. "Nevertheless. You, James Rhodes, are never wearing the Mark 2 armor again—" Floor panels moved as if out of a coffin, dramatically rose a bulky armor with many familiarities to the Ironman armor had plenty of distinct futures such as the rotatable gun on the back which indeed made Hammer tech look like the work of amateurs. "—because I made this for you instead."

"You… Made.. For me?" Rhodes stuttered, at loss for words like if he was given a priceless gift. "Tony, I—" he tried to mutter forth a thanks which Tony disregarded with another remark. "Hallmark couldn't have said it better."

"What's the catch?" Rhodes suddenly spoke as he squinted his eyes at Tony who just shook his head. "You are the most cynical, jaded person I've ever met."

"There's no catch?"

"No there's no catch." Tony answered as he continued with his arms folded explain what the situation is. "I've got to focus on Stark Tower. There's a drop date I absolutely have to meet. But the world's come to expect Iron Man will be there to protect them."

"Hang on, I'm Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force, not some glory-hound cowboy." Rhodes retorted where Tony feigned a gasp. "I thought air force pilots were glory-hound cowboys. Don't tell me _Top Gun_ lied to me!"

"Sir, you have a secure call from Agent Coulson regarding SHIELD consultant business." JARVIS announced like on queue. Tony turned to face the display in the workshop. "Thanks Jarvis. Rhodey, I've gotta take this. But think it over. The world needs Ironman."

"I am not Ironman!" Rhodes said before reluctantly leaving the Workshop. Jarik frowned as he walked up to a feet away from Tony as the image of Agent Coulson was seen on screen. "Mister Stark, Jarik. Good to see you." He initially spoke with the friendly yet professional tone which he had on the same day they met. It's been a couple of months since they heard from Coulson, the last thing was a consultant business concerning General Ross which as anticipated, removed the Abomination from the rooster of potential candidates for the Avenger Initiative.

"What's it about, Coulson?" Tony inquired as Coulson nodded, as usual down to business. "Avenger Initiative is scrapped by the World Security Council. SHIELD is moving on to other projects." He spoke as if a bit disappointed. "As for Jarik, I need to pull him out."

"What about me, Coulson?" Jarik inquired, genuinely curious which made Coulson's smile return in full strength. The image of Coulson decreased and put in a corner on the monitor while another image was shown which made his face go ashen. "We found a 0-8-4 buried in the Sahara desert." It was a ship, derelict and worn with age but he still recognized the design of the light freighter which was drained of color. "That's a Dynamic-Class Freighter. Registry number, 34-P7JK."

"Do you know this ship?" Stark asked, slightly concerned at this point where Jarik took a deep breath to finish what he just said. "That's a ship which has been missing for thousands of years, the Ebon Hawk."

"Should we be concerned about it?" Coulson asked warily, not liking where this was going. Jarik shook his head, no the Ebon Hawk as a ship was the fastest in the Outer Rim during the Old Republic era but now it was the matter of life and death concerning one of its last known passengers. A droid which would stand precisely at 5'11" in height with its components protected by a proper rusty red colored chassis, sharing many physical similarities with a protocol droid except the menacing orange photoreceptors and he is what people say, armed to the teeth with weapons. HK-47 was and remains to this day a genius piece of engineering and the ultimate Jedi Killer which could be functional even after 4000 years. "No, you should be concerned of what's **inside** it."

"Fair enough, I'll have someone pick you up and take you to the site." Coulson said, giving a dismissing nod to the Jedi. "Good luck with your construction project, Mister Stark." He said with a friendly tone which had Stark to cringe at the thought of being on friendly terms with Agent Coulson before the transmission was terminated. "Well, I guess you're finally quitting?"

"So it seems." Jarik said, a bit solemnly. "I'm going to miss, what do you call them, mind tricks?" Tony mused with a devious smirk.

"To get the paparazzi out of our hair, yes." Jarik said as he ascended the stairs with Tony at his heels. "You could've done more with that, sign business deals."

"I'm not going to abuse the Force for you. It's an ally, not a weapon." The Jedi said as he shook his head. "Right, I'll never understand your Jedi business anyway." The philanthropist genius said dismissingly as the Jedi walked out the door. He'd been working for Stark a couple of months while staying in Los Angeles and provided a nice change of pace compared to the electronics shop. Also, it gave Jarik an opportunity to acquaint himself with Tony Stark. If anyone could repair his hidden Pursuer-Class Enforcement Ship it would've been Stark, he just had to earn the man's trust but now, with the Ebon Hawk on Earth. He was uncertain whether it was a blessing or a curse


	4. The Return of HK-47

**A/N:** _I'll be brief, this chapter will continue to set the stage for Jarik and introduce more Star Wars characters and elements which will affect the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Avengers will change a greater challenge than presented in the first movie. I appreciate your support so far with the story, I'd like to hear your thoughts about where **you** think it should be heading.  
_

It took a few hours until Jarik had reached the crash site, SHIELD units had set up camp around the _0-8-4_ and right now, Jarik was approaching the command post in his Beskar'gam and his traditional yet adapted Jedi robe which gave him a more chivalrous appeal. Agent Coulson met him halfway. "Thank you for coming on a short notice. We discovered it during a search for potential sites to construct a new SHIELD facility." He explained as they approached the Ship.

His eyes were wide as he examined the worn-out ruptured features of the four thousand year old ship. "You said it has been missing for thousands of years. I take it that the ship is of significance?"

"Yes, it was once the ship of my ancestor. Revan." He said with a tone which Coulson recognized as sentimentality. We believed it lost after its crash on Malacor Five. Looks like someone found it."

They resumed to approach the ship in silence, it was half buried in sand. Jarik was glad to be present now that they were going to breach, he extended his hands as he grasped around the ship. His master once said that size doesn't matter to a Jedi. He took that teaching to heart, the Force was his ally and a powerful one at that as he lifted the ship from the sand dune. The SHIELD agents watching in awe as sand ran out of the ship ruptures and like rain until it stood upright with its landing pads on the ground.

"I advise caution to every single agent, this ship has been missing for four thousand years." He said as he reached out with the force, easily manipulating the mechanics at the boarding ramp of the Ebon Hawk, lowering it to the ground. "May the Force be with us." He murmured before he took long strides to enter the ship with Coulson and a full tactical team covering his back.

Immediately after heading up the ramp, he turned right and walked right into the main chambers with the main terminal at the center, circular as he always pictured it from examining the old schematics. The ship's condition was bad, everything looked out of sync and doesn't seem to be capable of flight anytime soon. However what he felt was a strong presence in the Force, a lingering one of many happy and bad memories. He heard shouts of how the Tactical teams searched the starboard side of the ship with ease.

"Understand, Coulson that this is living history to me. Compare it to finding King Arthur's sword Excalibur or even Atlantis. Something out of a legend." Jarik murmured with recognized awe while approaching the main terminal, for some reason he looked to his right at a closed door, the only closed door on the ship. "Ofcouse, where else would he be."

"He?" Coulson questioned as Jarik moved towards the door, using the force to pry it open while Coulson was on watch and the pistol at the ready. Jarik wasn't really ready for what he saw next. HK-47, sealed and preserved in a carbonite block. Any living being would've been dead by now but a machine frozen could've survived the temperature and remained perfectly preserved for thousands of years. "What is that?"

"That, Coulson. Is an assassination droid, the ultimate Jedi killer; HK-47. He must've preserved himself in carbonite when he couldn't maintain himself anymore." Jarik approached the carbonite block and accessed the panel on its side, it was still functional.

Coulson was wary of how easy Jarik had approached the assassination droid, he had just said it was the ultimate Jedi killer yet he approached it with such passivity. He listened as the other members of the tactical team reported clear on all sectors of the ship through the coms. "The Ebon Hawk is secure, we'll have the eggheads examine the ship and see if we salvage or learn something from it." Coulson said with a solemn smile as he watched how Jarik just kept his attention on the carbonite block in front of him. "If the Avenger Initiative wasn't scrapped then he could've been of use to us."

"You just said he was the ultimate Jedi killer." Coulson said with a measure of disbelief on what he just heard. Jarik turned around with a stare. "He's not capable of harming his master and that is whomever is activating him."

Coulson contemplated what he heard, if activated, HK-47 would probably be loyal to Jarik. Yet he knew that the Jedi whom stood before him, had only good intentions. SHIELD was no fool, they knew that one day he would be compelled to depart one day to fight the Empire. Maybe he would be more successful with this droid at his side besides, who else wouldn't exploit the capabilities of this assassin droid? "Then do it, activate him. You'll one day be leaving this planet anyway by whatever spacecraft you came here with." Coulson said plainly but with a smile. Jarik stared right back at him, like if he now understood that SHIELD knew all along that he hidden a starship somewhere. He nodded curtly before returning his attention to the panel by the carbonite block, deactivating it. The carbonite around HK-47 started to glow from dark grey to searing red as the carbonite melted away. Revealing the perfectly preserved droid behind. The orange photoreceptors immediately scanned the room. "Statement: 1 321 456 Standard Days since Master's Last Directive." He monotonely spoke yet it sounded menacing.

"Observation: Hold your processors, is that a Jedi? Why yes it is." He suddenly blurted in what could be recognized as astonishment. He stepped out of the melted portion of the carbonite block and stood face to face with Jarik. "Statement: HK-47 is ready to serve, Master."

"At ease, HK-47. What was Revan's last directive?" Jarik spoke in a militant manner which he usually had when he was leading troops during the Clone Wars. "Answer: To await the day his descendent would find the ship and myself. I'm very pleased that day has finally come."

"Advisement: I detect multiple primitive meatbags armed with slugthrowers in close proximity. May I terminate them with extreme prejudice, Master?" He asked a bit more hopefully. "You may not kill anyone without my express permission. With that said, make an inventory before we depart" Jarik said sternly to the droid. "Statement: Yes, master. Ofcouse, master." While Revan was by far HK-47's favorite master but his final directive was the worst.

Why he had to travel and wait on this backwater planet was beyond him and was quite frankly a dull arrangement. He had repaired and maintained himself while waiting faithfully as his master instructed until he ran out of parts to maintain himself with, so he preserved himself in a carbonite block.

He walked down the ramp after determining that not only his carbonite projector and flamethrower but his heavily modified disruptor rifle was still functional and magnetically locked to the back of his chassis. It had improved optics, reduced recoils and extended range along with several open ports for even more modular upgrades. Backing him up were vibro-knives concealed in his forearms and blaster pistols, magnetically locked to each of his thighs. Besides that he was fully stocked with variable amounts of explosives and utilities which could only describe in by a meatbag term, armed to the teeth.

HK-47 was rather indifferent towards the slugthrowers aimed at him as his optical sensors indicate several weak spots for him to exploit, he calculated that he could take down the twenty targets in matter of 13.7 seconds. However as his master has instructed, he may not kill anyone without his express permission which was in HK-47's humble opinion outrageous. "Commentary: You've chosen some peculiar allies, master." The droid spoke which didn't put the SHIELD agents at ease but Coulson told them to stand down while Jarik and HK-47 boarded the Quinnjet.

…

"Have you heard, they found a 0-8-4 out in the Sahara desert." Muttured Jack Rollins to Brock Rumlow, STRIKE Team Leader who traversed to one of various Quinnjets launch fields in the Triskelion. SHIELD's Primary Headquarters positioned on Theodore Roosevelt Island alongside the Potomoc River. "Yeah, the _Jedi_ is bringing something from the site for evaluation." The Jedi, a variable which frankly they didn't like. They've read the classified SHIELD file on Jarik Shan.

A veteran of a galactic war and a so-called guardian of peace and justice with mystical powers and a laser sword. A threat which had to be eliminated in the future. Hydra has been festering inside SHIELD for years, sowing conflict so that one day. The world would willingly surrender its freedom but also unknowingly to Hydra.

"ETA 2 minutes." Said the STRIKE Team Leader to his fellow sleeper agent, their assignment here was easy; Escort the Jedi and whatever he found for immediate evaluation by none other than Deputy Director Maria Hill. Their entire STRIKE unit was waiting as the Quinnjet from Sahara desert arrived, the ramp lowered as the Jedi walked calmly down followed by what at first glance they thought was Ironman but the quickly realized that wasn't Ironman. The chassis was rusty red yet didn't seem to be deteriorating like they were familiar with. It reminded them of the Hammer drones but far more advanced and outright more menacing to behold.

"Observation: An armed unit of meatbag with slugthrowers. Probably here to escort us or to kill us. The later may be wishful thinking on my part, master." voiced the machine which they now recognized as a robot, a self-sentient robot. "HK-47, I suggest you keep yourself scarce as to not give SHIELD the wrong idea."

He walked down the ramp with the robot identified as HK-47 at his heels as he let out a rather convincing sound which resembled a sigh, could robots even do that? "Statement: Very well, Master."

"STRIKE, move out." Brock ordered, the entire unit taking position around Jarik and HK-47 as they were escorted through the Triskelion. They had passed several agents of SHIELD whom gave them wary glances in spite of the heavy escort through the Triskelion. That is until they reach to an office occupied by Maria Hill, SHIELD's Deputy Director. STRIKE took position inside and outside the office as Maria Hill sat in her chair. She was dressed in a jumpsuit uniform with a holstered Glock 19 at her side. "Please, have a seat." She said with the outmost expectancy of their compliance.

Jarik took a seat in the meeting room while HK.47 stood at his side a few inches from the table. "Query: Why does most female meatbags have tight clothes?"

"Well, I guess that answers the question if it's self-aware." She said with a bemused tone to her voice and her eyes staring right at Jarik. "Care to explain your reasoning about activating this thing in the field."

"Objection: I'm most certainly not a thing, I'm a law-abiding droid, yes indeed. Law-abiding!" The Droid blurted out for everyone to hear. Hill just tilted her head to side, as if to say _really?_ While staring at the amount of armaments which the droid carried with him.

"I'll be blunt, HK-47 was created four thousand years ago by my ancestor, Revan. He's a Hunter-Killer assassin droid which is programmed to be able to act independently to take down an assigned target, a function which he is very proud of." Jarik explained, rolling his eyes as he mentioned the droid's pride while Brock listened very attentively. "As to why I activated him, I don't trust anyone to have him at their disposal. Not even SHIELD."

"Why is that, SHIELD's goal is to protect people." She said softly but with a warning tone. "He's the ultimate Jedi killer, an assassin without rival. Also, he got a track record of _accidently_ killing the majority of his masters." Brock perked a brow at this, this was interesting. Maybe the droid could do their job for them?

"Query: Shall I sum up the list of my previous masters?" The droid inquired the deputy director, catching on what Jarik was doing. "Maybe it would be best if he was in your care then, I'm not sure any sane being would be able to control it." She mused lightly disappointed. "In short, no there's no need for you to sum up the list HK-47."

"Statement: Very well, I shall resume with _surfing the web_ as your meatbags calls it." Jarik, Brock and Maria Hill staring at the droid like if their brains short-circuited. "He's connected to the Internet?" She spoke in a warning tone as her gaze shifted towards the Jedi. "Answer: Yes, it is most delightful to troll the forums. It also expands my vocabulary with more antagonizing words to throw off future targets." Jarik facepalmed, this was going to be a long day.

…

 _Peace is a lie, there is only passion._

How true those words are and have been for the last thousands of years. He has watched how the Sith had fallen and how the Republic has risen to its height only fall again by the hands of the Sith. The Sith had outmaneuvered and executed his great plan to eradicate the Jedi yet there was one flaw. They didn't see beyond their own galaxy.

 _Through passion, I gain strength._

Once, he had been second only to the Emperor himself during the Great Galactic War between the Old Republic and the Sith Empire but now he had rediscovered the teachings of Darth Sion, achieving immortality and have in exile been plotting and discover a universe bigger than they had previously imagined. He had met Thanos and they sealed an alliance when the mad titan realized that no matter how many times he was killed, he simply returned as powerful.

 _Through strength, I gain power._

He had reached out to Darth Maul after he escaped the grasp of his former master. Now the Dathomir Zabrak was serving him as his new apprentice. He would use Thanos to restore the Sith Empire where the ways of the Sith was the way of the Empire. However he had taken an interest on a world where the Tesseract was being kept, Earth. It was't only the most powerful source of energy in the universe but also in the Force.

 _Through power, I gain victory._

He had sensed the Jedi on Earth, seen through the means of his servants there that he was co-operating with SHIELD. Yet what caught his attention was his heraldry, Revan. The very name made his blood to boil, he had despised the Revanites even when he was in the Dark Council.

 _Through victory, my chains are broken._

It didn't matter, the Jedi was on the verge on extinction. Sooner or later, all of them would fall before the true empire of the Sith rises. Plant hate and terror into every heart and start the democratization of fear.

 _The Force shall free me._

Everything that is not of the Dark Side will be purged or it will be tainted. For he was Darth Jadus. He is eternal and the Infinity Stones shall be his and with them so shall the Universe. He was dressed regally, like a true lord of the Sith and not like an old man in dark robes. His features concealed by a mask-like helmet and his appearance daunting, his authority absolute as all the emotions and passions are contained, controlled within himself. Every being who came close could feel the dark side radiating, how their blood starts to boil and how their heart beats slower.

"The Tesseract has awakened. It's on a neutral world. A human world. They would wield its power. But our ally knows its workings as they never will. He's ready to lead. Our force, our chitauri will follow. The world be his. The universe yours and the humans, what can they do but burn?" The Other told Thanos who observed as the Scepter was given to Loki Laufeyson who was found drifting through space.

"He will fail, Thanos." Darth Jadus announced as Loki departed. "Your servant, the Other is a fool to believe that they will be easily subjugated." Thanos cast a glare to his side. "Don't test me, Sith. You may be immortal but you can still feel pain."

"Yes and pain fuels my powers further. However, even if he fails. He can advance our plans." Jadus retorted mockingly to Thanos who cast a glare to his side but nodded in acknowledgement as to let him continue explaining. "I'll have my apprentice oversee the matter. Even if Loki fail, we'll be further our own endevours."

Thanos cracked up a grin, a marginal victory in spite of defeat however improbable would be in his favour. The Sith Lord may powerful and cunning but once the Infinity stones was his, then he would die like all the rest.


	5. Tesseract Crisis

**A/N:** _So we're finally here, the first part of the Avenger's first assembly and Loki's War for Earth._ _I appreciate any response or feedback for the story and hope for the twists and spins for what's coming next._

Jarik Shan knew all the forms of lightsaber combat. The Late Battlemaster of the Order, Cin Drallig complemented him for the skill he has always displayed when it came to learning a form and put it to practice. While Serra Keto was the Battlemaster's most prized student; Jarik Shan came close second. He has honed his skills during the war and the years in hiding along with the last couple of months, hopefully an equal duelist should he come face to face with Darth Vader but that seemed unlikely.

The Jedi Knight has been busy ever since HK-47 had been reactivated, interrogated, analyzed and assessed by SHIELD. To say the least, they were worried about the sadistic and psychopathic tendencies presence in the droid but Director Fury had allowed him to stay active for some reason. In spite of all the stories of his former masters being put down in detail in a heavily classified file. Bochaba the Hutt, the Human Senator and the low-ranking commercial officer of Systech Corporation. The interrogation process took hours and most of the agents couldn't stand the droid.

HK-47 started to show remarkable flexibility ever since his reactivation in adapting to Earth technology and took great pleasure in antagonizing and humiliating people in First Person Shooters games where he mocks his opponents over voice chat, constantly while winning every single game even against major league gamers.

SHIELD wanted to test their capabilities and so they've been tested and analyzed in various scenarios. After an impressive display of taking down multiple contacts in hand-to-hand combat and a demonstration of the martial art application of Ataru, the Fourth form of Lightsaber Combat which relied heavily on a combination of power, strength and speed. The mastery displayed in the transitions between the three axes of rotation put his Sparring partners off guard every single time and allowed him to quickly defeat them, again and again.

He was alone that night, practicing katas with his lightsaber with increasing velocity by every swing while HK-47 reviewed the recording of his new master's latest sparing. "Statement: While I may not be allowed to kill anyone, I take great pleasure in watching your display of martial prowess, Master." The assassination droid voiced, obviously proud of his new master's competence. "Commentary: I'm though disappointed in the lack of evisceration, electrocution and blunt trauma, Master."

"Because that's your primary function?" Jarik responded while sweat dripped down onto the floor. "Correction. Assassination theory and execution of said theories is my primary function."

"Glad to have that clarified." The Jedi responded with a restraint snicker while taking the jedi ready stance until he suddenly felt pain surge through his body and a powerful presence in the force affecting like a breach. The amount of pain made him fall to his knees and deactivated the lightsaber as he pressed his palms against the floor, panting greatly. "Query: Master, are you alright?"

"Y-yes, I just felt… a great disturbance in the Force. I felt the earthquake and the lives wasted as rocks fell down upon their heads." Jarik spoke, for the first time his voice shaking after the sudden surge of pain. "Observation: You don't look alright, Master."

"Thank you for stating the obvious, HK-47." He snapped back before forcing him back to his feet. The Force would sustain him for now but something has happened.

…

Director Nick Fury wasn't in a good mood but he kept his cool while in the presence of the World Security Council whom he communicated with through several large monitors. One of the members spoke, a man with a deep voice. "This is out of line, Director. You're dealing with forces you can't control."

"You ever been in a war, Councilman? In a firefight? Did you feel an overabundance of control?" The SHIELD Director retorted with an authoritive confidence to the Councilman whom responded. "You saying that this Asgard has declared war on our planet?"

 **"** Not Asgard. Loki." He corrected, inwardly feeling that they intentionally question his judgement. Another councilman spoke up, a woman this time whom made her inquiry. "He can't be working alone. What about the other one? His brother."

 **"** Our intelligence says, Thor is not a hostile. But he's worlds away, we can't depend on him to help. It's up to us." He answered with as much diligence he could stomach. He practically didn't like the idea of having the council question him but it kept him on his toes, especially in a world where the people he could trust could be counted on one hand.

 **"** Which is why you should be focusing on phase 2, it was designed for exactly..." The First concilman protested until Nick Fury cut him off midsentence. "Phase 2 isn't ready, our enemy is. We need a response team."

"The Avengers Initiative was shut down." The man spoke sternly as the Director misdirected the man further to make them see the larger picture. "This isn't about The Avengers."

"We're running the world's greatest covert security network and you're gonna leave the fate of human race to a handful of freaks." Funny, it almost sounded like spite but it was also calm and collected. A skrewed politician and he didn't like those kind of people. "I'm not leaving anything to anyone. We need a response team. These people maybe isolated, unbalanced even, but I believe with the right push they can be exactly what we need."

The woman scoffed **"** You believe?" she responded a bit snarkly as the man coughed to clear his throat before continuing with his argument. "War isn't won by sentiment, Director. "

"No, it's won by soldiers." Director Fury responded with his one good eye fixed upon them all, they all winced back. He had a point, they were politicians and not soldiers.

…

After he left the SHIELD dojo and headed to his old apartment in New York City which has since then been redecorated and the neighbors have been replaced by SHIELD agents which are there for his _protection_. He heard the knocking on the door and immediately walked over and opened, looking into the face of Maria Hill. "Jarik Shan." She spoke in the same diligently professional tone. The jedi immediately noticed the bruises and stitches. "Deputy Director, is there a problem?"

"Yes, Director Fury wants you and your droid aboard the Helicarrier ASAP. Consider the Avenger Initiative reactivated." She said as she handed over then a suitcase. He was puzzled, they reactivated the Avenger Initiative? It was surely linked to the great disturbance in the force he felt. "Consider it done, HK-47. Accept the Briefing Package."

"Statement: Ofcouse, Master." Reluctantly his droid wandered over to the bench and grasped the suitcase, utilizing the functions of a protocol droid installed. HK-47 opened it to watch the SHIELD laptop, none of them could see it but HK-47 was wincing in his behavior core as he the USB port extended from his palm, proceeding to download all the information from the briefing package. "Analysis: The candidates for the Avenger Initiative is quite intriguing. Doctor Robert Bruce Banner AKA The Hulk, capable of transforming into a bigger meatbag with green pigmentation and undisputed strength whom at full force behind a punch would in theory crack a Beskar'gam" HK-47 began to brief while the Jedi listened. "Statement: Tony Stark AKA Ironman, Owner of Stark Industries and self-declared protector of the States flying around in a suit."

"Statement: Oh, this is an interesting one. Thor Odinson, Prince of Asgard and the Norse God of Thunder. Seems like the myths surrounding the Nine Realms weren't myths after all. Wonderful." The Assassin droid informed his master. "Statement: Last but not least, Steve Rogers AKA Captain America. The World's first super soldier and a hero from World War Two. He seems to have firsthand experience concerning the Tesseract."

Jarik nodded, compartimizing the relevant information which the droid provides. "Observation: Oh dear, Master. If the myth surrounding the nine realms wasn't enough. The Tesseract." The Jedi perked a brow as he proceeded to get changed into his Beskar'gam and Jedi Robe. "Elaborate, HK-47."

"Statement: The Tesseract was told in myth to be one of the six infinity stones. It's presence in the force is tremendous which may be the disturbance you felt. Every force-sensitive meatbag worth their dime would've feel it aswell which may what you would a problem, Master." He didn't like the sound of that. That would mean that Earth wouldn't be safe from the Empire for long. They would investigate the disturbance sooner or later. "May the Force be with us." He murmured, worried for what might come next.

...

It was far from quiet in the secret underground lab where the several soldiers put under Loki's control ran around preparing for the next phase of the grand plan of his. All except one ofcouse, the one person there who wasn't under his control. An athletic _man_ in black standing 5'9" in height, a long cylinder-looking object hanging from the belt and a rather concealing facial mask with a vertical visor straight above the nose bridge with the cowl of his black robe covering the rest.

Loki Laufeyson had observed this mortal, this sith and found to his astomished that the lower half of his body was cybernetic but yet he moved about as if restless and eager for something. Loki shook his head as he returned to watch Erik Selvig working. Selvig was an astropyshicists under the employ of SHIELD but now under his command. Loki closed his eyes in meditation whereupon he open the lids. He was back in the Sanctuary, a portion of space which was under the Mad Titan's control. Before him stood the other, fully armed in his horned helmet and armor. "The Chitauri grow restless."

"Let them go at themselves. I will lead them into glorious battle." Loki snapped back dismissingly "Battle? Against the meager might of Earth?"

"Glorious, not lengthy. If your force is as formidable as you claim." The God of Mischief responded with a smug smile on his face, he knew he was agitating the other and he relished in it.

"You question us? You question **him**? He, who put the scepter in your hand, who gave you ancient knowledge and new purpose when you were cast out, defeated?" The other snaped back, breathing heavily as to control his anger.

"I was a king! The rightful king of Asgard! Betrayed!" Loki declared, not going to stand the other's insolence. The irony. "Your ambition is little, born of childish need. We look beyond the Earth to greater worlds the Tesseract will unveil."

"You don't have the Tesseract _yet_." Loki declared, putting the emphasis on the last word in the sentence but despite that. The Other runs over to attack him, but stops as Loki points his scepter at his chest.

"I don't threaten, but until I open the doors, until your force is mine to command, you are but words." Loki cided back in contempt. The other withdraw must started to circle the Asgardian like a predator waiting to pounce on his prey.

"You will have your war, Asgardian. If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he can't find you. You think you know pain? He will make you long for something as sweet as pain." The Other then places his hands around Loki's head and the connection was broken. Loki winced as he agitatedly rose and swept his gaze around menacing.

"Relish in your passion, God of Mischief. Let it fuel you." said the sith as he walked over, speaking as if he was an equal. "You don't only have the Chitauri supporting you but that of the Sith Cabal."

"Is there a difference?" Loki cided back to the Sith who turned his ire towards Selvig and the Scientists. "Yes. Unlike Thanos, Darth Jadus has seen what is to come. You will be King again." The Sith cryptically responded as he gestured towards Selvig and his fellow scientists working on the device. "Put it over there!" Selvig said with a wide and blissful smile on his face to other scientists before he turned and walked closer to Clint Barton AKA Hawkeye whom was holding tablet. "Where did you find all these people?"

"SHIELD has not shortage of enemies, Doctor." The Archer answered in a monotone manner before holding up the tablet, the screen showing information on Iridium. "Is this the stuff you need?"

"Yeah, iridium. It's found in meteorites, it forms anti-protons. It's very hard to get hold of." Selvig elaborated as he was securing some bolts on a part of the device. "Especially if SHIELD knows you need it." Barton retorted.

"Well, I didn't know!" Selvig voiced as he extended his arms, his pupils and iris shiimmering in light blue. His ire was set upon Loki who was now approaching with the Sith at his heels.

"Hey! The Tesseract is showing me so much. It's more than just knowledge, it's... truth."

"I know. What did it show you, Agent Barton?" Loki said with a plain smile on his face as he shifted his attention to the Archer. "My next target."

"Tell me what you need."

"I'll need a distraction." The possessed SHIELD agent declared as he grasped the composite bow and flexed it out to its full length. "And an eyeball."

...

Steve Rogers was sitting down, they were approaching their destination. He had a nice chat with Agent Coulson who seemed to be a _fan_ of his. He wasn't entirely sure what the term meant but it he could check up a disctionary later on, the ramp lowered as the Agent took the lead and he followed diligentlyu. He took a initial look around, it looked like a carrier ship but massive in scope and size with two runways instead of one, One with direct access to a hanger at the rear is aligned along the spine of the vessel.

Agent Coulson was in his usual black suit and tie along with a pair of sunglasses. They came face to face with a good looking red head woman in a red T-shirt and a black leather jacket. Coulson introcuded each other promptly. "Agent Romanoff. Captain Rogers."

"Ma'am." Rogers said in acknowledgement to the woman whom if her name was anything to go by, was Russian. She stared him straight in the face and plainly said "Hi." before speaking to Coulson. "They need you on the bridge. Face time."

"See you there." Coulson said before heading off underneath the deck and leaving Steve with Agent Romanoff whom turned to walk for the railing of the ship. "There was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?" She said bluntly and strictly professional.

"Trading cards?" The super soldier inquired at the agent who hinted a smile. "They're vintage, he's very proud." Steve then noticed a black haired man who seemed very nervous which he's obviously trying to put a lid on as personnel walked past and the two walking his way. "Doctor Banner." Steve said as he walks up to Banner and shakes his hands.

"Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you'd be coming." He responded as they shook hands.

"Word is you can find the cube."

"Is that the only word on me?" Doctor Banner said as he glances to his left and right as if expected to be arrested at any minute or held at the end of a gunbarrel.

"Only word I care about." Rogers deadpanned as the man nodded as he took in the sentiment. "Must be strange for you, all of this." He said, eager to change the subject.

"Well, this is actually kind of familiar." Steve said, a bit fondly as he watched soldiers lightly jogged in a collumn passed while personnel was securing the aircrafts to the deck. "Gentlemen, you may wanna step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breath."

Mechanical sounds were heard from all around the ship along orders thrown across the deck between the personnel. "Is this is a submarine?"

"Really? They wanted me in a submerged pressurized metal container?" Bruce Banner snarkly responded as they moved closer to the edge and bare witness of how slowly the carrier gained altitude and how the water surface broke away revealing huge turbines spinning faster and faster. Steve watched in awe while all Bruce could do was forcing a smile. "Oh, no. This is much worse."

 **…**

There was a flurry of activity on the bridge, agents sitting at their positions at the viewscreens all the while Deputy Director Maria Hill continued to give out her orders loudly. Jarik Shan and HK-47 kept their distance as to stay out of the agent's hair while the procedure for liftoff went underway. The carrier ship had four huge turbines, two at each side in pallarell to one another. Nick Fury stood at the center dias with plenty of control panels. "We're at the level, sir." Maria Hill informed.

"Good. Let's vanish." Nick Fury ordered as they had gained plenty of altitude, the reflecting mirrors of the helicarrier's exterior came into display and made them unnoticable to the naked eye. Meanwhile the door has opened and Jarik Shan laid his eyes on Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner for the first time along with a red-haired agent which he was unacquainted with. He misdirected them with the force, cloaking himself and HK-47 from them while the two newly arrived start to walk through the bridge and examined it. Captain Rogers seemed to be awed while Banner was impressed even if he was reluctant to show it.

Nick Fury turned around to face them "Gentlemen." he said in a greeting while Steve strided over and bring forth a ten dollar bill and hands them to Fury who passively tucked it away before walking straight towards Bruce Banner, extending his hand which Banner reluctantly shakes. "Doctor, thank you for coming."

"Thanks for asking nicely. So, uh... how long am I staying?" He said, is anxiety was obvious especially for someone who was attuned to the Force and could sense the emotion within people. "Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear." Fury answered, Jarik knew that it was sincere. The Jedi sensed the turmoil and worry within the red-haired woman who was looking at the screen with the image of another agent, Clint Barton.

There was one thing which he wasn't reluctant in doing, getting to work. "Where are you with that?" he asked and Nick Fury turns and points to Agent Coulson as if on queue proceeded to explain with arms folded. "We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."

"That's still not gonna find them in time." The red-haired agent commented. "You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?" Bruce responded as he leaned against the railing.

"How many are there?" Nick Fury asks as Bruce Banner started to remove his jacket as he started to speak."Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places." he continued as he folded the jacket neatly as he fidgeted a bit with his watch. "Do you have somewhere for me to work?"

"Agent Romanoff, would you show Doctor Banner to his laboratory, please." The Director Instructed and the red-haired woman nodded as she rose and lead the way for the Doctor down the hall and out of the bridge. "You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys."

Jarik Shan took a deep breath as he stepped out of his corner to the railing. "Captain Rogers." He said in a greeting, extending his hand as per the native custom. Steve turned around and look at the Jedi and the assassin droid in suprise. "Jarik Shan I presume?" He spoked in return, accepting the hand and shook it.

"Quite right, Captain. It's a pleasure to meet a someone with integrity such as yours." The Jedi said with a smile. "I must confess when I about you and HK-47 in the briefing package, I was worried. Especially about the assassin droid."

"Commentary: That is the idea of an assassin droid, to be inimidating and I'm **Unique**. The very best there is." HK-47 replied proudly as Steve Rogers stared at him warily. "I'll take your word for it."

"Fret not, he's under my command and may not kill without my express permission." The Jedi reassured the Super soldier which seemed a bit more at ease before asking the droid. "And you're okey with that?"

"Answer: I act only as my master instruct me… even if it that means being—" HK-47 gulps loudly, "— Non-violent."

"I'm not off this world, Captain. Out of all the candidates in the Avenger Initiative. You're the most qualified to lead us." Jarik Shan deadpanned and then declared loudly. "HK-47, you're to follow the Captain's commands to the letter and may only address him as Captain instead of Meatbag. However, you may only take commands from me or him and should I ever fall in battle, he'll succeed me as your master. Clear?"

"Reluctant Supplication: Yes, Master."

"That won't be necessary, Jarik. We're all going to get through this with our lives intact." Steve Rogers spoke rather sentmentally as Jarik gave him a smile. "There are casualties in war, Captain Rogers. You may have read that I've spent three years of my life fighting in one only to have the democracy I fought for and my entire order to crumble in the wake of darkness." Steve nodded, understanding what he's getting at, it was a contingency measure should the Jedi die and despite they've only just met, their respect for one another was solidified.


	6. Codename Paladin

**A/N:** _The Avenger is still assembling in this story, there won't be many suprises here but it's quite a build up to what will come next and how the Scepter enhances Loki's abilities. Features brief interaction between Avengers but is mostly borrowed from the movie. Also, I'm going for a Revan look-alike with Jarik's armor but more fitting to the era he lives in. I hope you appreciate this story as much as I enjoy writing it!_

Steve Rogers was on the bridge aboard the Helicarrier, contemplating with his arms folded "I mean, if it's not too much trouble." said Phil Coulson with his ever-present smile of his. Jarik had left the bridge to make a few preparations while they were waiting to locate Loki.

"No, no. It's fine." Rogers responded, both men with their professional demeanor intact. "It's a vintage set. It took me a couple of years to collect them all. Near mint, slight foxing around the edges, but—" Phil Coulson elaborated but was interrupted by beeping from one of the computers. "We got a hit. Sixty-seven percent match." announced Agent Jasper Sitwell diligently. "Wait, cross match, seventy-nine percent."

"Location?" Coulson inquired as he made his way to the monitor. The screen zoomed in on the location through a satellite, the match was now one hundred percent. They had Loki's position pinned down. "Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Konigstrasse." The agent answered. "He's not exactly hiding."

"Captain, you're up." Nick Fury announced, Steve Rogers nods in acknowledgment to the order and turned towards HK-47 as he left the Bridge with steady strides. "HK-47, notify Shan to get ready. We're heading for germany." Captain Rogers commanded.

Soon enough, well aboard the Quinnjet; Captain America sat opposite Jarik sat opposite and stared at the Jedi's Full body armor. He had taken the liberty to modify it with a few upgrades such as the gauntlet vibroblades and a Tactical Pad attached to the right forearm along with a grabbling hook attachment to the left forearm. The blue in the armor has now worn out to a poor imitation of durasteel. Like Raven he now wore a **T** -shaped visor helmet with a functional HUD and voice-activated comlink underneath his hood. "I assume you want your identity to be a secret." Captain America inquired.

"The Jedi are wanted traitors to the Empire, so yes." The Jedi deadpanned towards the American Super Hero who nodded in understanding. "It couldn't have been easy but you're no longer alone, Paladin."

Jarik mused the codename _Paladin_ he liked it. It rolled off the tongue easily and he knew its definition; a knightly champion. "I like it, Captain. Haat, Ijaa, Haa'it!"

"I'll relay that to Fury." Black Widow announced from her pilot seat. Captain America stared at Jarik for a moment. "It's Mando'a for _Truth, Honor, Vision_ and is ussually said when sealing a pact." Rogers nodded in appreciation in the sentiment. They truly were now brother-in-arms.

…

Literally on Twenty Eight Koningstratte in Stuttgart, Gemeny. Chaos had ensued as the socialite crowd hastily left the building in panic. Loki, the God of Mischief transmuted his previous sleek suit to his original green and golden armor with the horned helmet of his and the scepter in his hand, glowing menacingly as Police cars was arriving at the scene. With a thrust of the scepter and the police cars were blasted to oblivion.

"Kneel before me." He declared to the crowd of germans, socialites and middle-class workers alike being shepparded into one single crowd by the Loki duplicates circling them with scepters in hand and grins on their faces. "I said. **KNEEL**!"

The crowd went quiet, they looked hesitant but one by one in fear succumbed and got their knees before the God of Mischief. Loki couldn't help but smile and hold out his armos embracingly. "Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel." The words resonates among the kneeling and terrified crowd. One man chose to stand, an elderly german gentlemen with defiance in his eyes. "Not to men like you."

Loki managed to hide his suprise, this mortal dared to defy him and insult him? "There are no men like me." The God of Mischief managed to utter, all the way forcing him to smile. This was unexpected, he could see in the man that he knew the price of defiance "There are always men like you."

Loki raised his scepter and pointed it smugly towards the elderly man. "Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example." The scepter growing ever more fierce, sending a blast which would disintergrate this rebel in his new realm. However, the blast was intercept and Loki was knocked back by the recoil from which backfired right back at him.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." said a voice which Loki could quickly identify as he rose to his feet. A muscular man standing 6'2" in height with a shield and donning a uniform of red, blue and white in a pattern which associated with a patriot. The star sprangled man with a plan, Captain America. He walked among the crowd which were quickly dispersing while they still could.

"The soldier. A man out of time." said Loki as he got back to his feet, his words drippling with contempt for the mortal whom woud stand in his way. His duplicates tenses, the cosmic energies infused within his scepter allowed them to solidify their form and become a viable distraction and even do some damage; in short they were as troublesome as he could be.

"He's not the one who's out of time." said another voice. Loki turned his ire to the Captain's companions. The first was a man dressed in body armor with a brown robe and cowl pulled up shadowing his features of an helmet along with a cylinder-looking object similiar to the one carried by the Sith. However, this one was emitting a blue blade. The other one was to Loki's suprise a machine and it looked ancient too. Rusty red in color and with two sophisticated pistols held in each hand. All the while, an aircraft hovered above them with a machine gun trained upon him. A voice echoed through the speakers. "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."

"Warning: My targetting computers has already scanned your softspots, meatbags. The first shot will imobilize you, the second will spill your slippery components to the floor." said the machine in quite a menacing tone. The way of how said it gave Loki momentary pause. He was outnumbered, he had anticipated the solider but not the knight and the machine. Atleast not so soon.

One of Loki's duplicates then lashes out with his scepter, sending a blast of cosmic energy the quinnjets way, while it was avoided. It served as a distraction as the other duplicates decided to join the fray, blasting at them. Captain America sprung into action, throwing his shield at Loki, knocking him down as HK-47 whom was true to his words, immobilizes one of Loki's duplicate with the first shot and the second shot finishes him off. Jarik Shan threw the lightsaber which whirled around as it cut one of Loki's duplicates in half while force pushing another into the concrete.

Meanwhile, the Captain was now in a fist fight against the real Loki whom managed to hold his own against the super soldier with scepter in hand, bashing as he manages to knock the Captain down and put the scepter to his head. "Kneel." Loki demanded while the Captain grasped the previously thrown shield and slammed the man in the face. "Not Today!" Rolling back up to his feet before their fist fighting resumed.

Jarik was holding his ground with the Soresu form against a couple of the duplicates whom were dueling with their scepters which remarkable are able to withstand the blows of a lightsaber. Normally it wouldn't be ideal but HK-47 was quick effecient in dispatching the duplicates with his blasters. "The guy's all over the place." Agent Romanoff complained over the coms until without warning, the speakers starting to play AC DC's _Shoot to Thrill_ and a new voice speaking through their coms. "Agent Romanoff, did you miss me?"

Tony Stark was soaring through the skies in his Ironman suit, blasting Loki back with his repulsors as he landed next to the Captain, his armor now pulling out a great variety of weapons in his arsenal. "Make your move, Reindeer Games."

Suprisingly enough, Loki puts up his hands and surrenders. All the while, his armor and horned helmet fades away into nothing. His remaining duplicates disintegrated the moment he lost his grip on the scepter.

"Good move." Stark commented as Captain and Ironman gave each other a stiff yet professional acknowledgement by addressing them by "Mister Stark." or "Captain." respectively.

Jarik frowned at the behaviour of the two as he deactivated the lightsaber. "HK-47 secure thé prisoner. We'll be taking him in for questioning." The assassin droid complied with the command although reluctantly. "Statemant: Affirmative, Captain."

HK-47 walks over and proceeds with restraining Loki with cufflinks behind his back. "Observation: Resistance is futile, meatbag." The droid pushed and escorted now the landed Quinnjet were Loki was restrained to his seat and the droid sat opposite of the god of mischief with his blaster pistol menacly held in his grip. Jarik walked right into the cockpit and sat down in the co-pilot seat next to the Black Widow, not really in the mood of being in the middle of the tension between Ironman and Captain America. "Can't stand Stark aswell?"

Jarik shifted his gaze to the red-headed woman in the tight black jumpsuit as the Quinnjet was lifting off. "I can stand Stark but him and HK-47 at the same time?"

"Point taken." She said with a smirk, although partly a forced one from what Jarik could tell, she was putting a lid on her emotions which were mostly worry for her best friend. "We'll get him back."

"How do you know?" She hissed back, scowling at him partly as he sighed and leaned his head backwards. "I don't. However, I do trust in the Force while you may not and something tells me that we'll see him again."

Agent Romanoff let the words sink in as she nod. "Not many people can read me you know." she said, intended as a compliment of sorts.

"Not many people on Earth can sense emotions." He answered bluntyly. "Waoh, what can't the Force do?" She says a bit sarcastically with a dry tone to her voice. The Jedi scoffs as to hide his snicker. "The Force isn't a tool or a weapon, it's an ally. A powerful one at that."

"Everything can either be a tool or a weapon." She retorted as clouds start to gather and flashes with lightning and cracks with thunder! There were chatter between Steve and Tony concerning Loki while HK-47 were standing by.

Jarik squinted his eyes, something was off with this weather. Te Lightning was too close yet doesn't strike them down from the sky, true it causes them plenty of turbulens with more rought winds. "Where's this coming from?" Romanoff complained as more thunder cracks among the lightning filled clouds. Loki seems to be staring out the window intently.

"What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?" Steve asked rhetorically to the captive asgardian whom indifferent responded. "I'm not overly fond of what follows."

"Warning: Silent Meatbag." HK-47 threatened with the blaster now pointing at the God of Mischief who took the not-so-subtle hint and shut his mouth. Steve sneers over at HK-47's threat while Tony cracks a grin that it until the entire jet starts to shake as the exterior illuminates in a flash of light! Tony puts on the helmet and walks towards the ramp and opens it.

"What are you doing?" Steve calls, the sudden draft knocking him off balance. A man drops down, muscularly built and in outlandish armor of a glorious era. His red cape flowing with the blowing wind as his ire is pinned upon those inside the Quinnjet. Ironman lifts his gauntlet, readies a blast from his repulsor but is smacked back by the man's hammer, knocked back and down to the floor while Thor quickly grasps Loki and tear him from the restraints. HK-47's blaster fire doesn't seem to phase the stranger whom swung the hammer in his grip and flies out with Loki in his grasp.

Tony grunts as he gets up to his feet "Now there's that guy." he mutters in a complaint as Natasha speaks up. "Another Asgardian?"

"Think the guy's a friendly?" Steve pants, having being knocked back by the draft from the open ramp. "Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost." Ironman promptly answers before turning around and walks towards the ramp. "Stark, we need a plan of attack!"

"I have a plan. Attack." With that Ironman flew off after the Asgardians. Steve hastily went to grasp a parachute and strap it on. Jarik left his seat aswell and immediately went to the ramp. "HK-47, stay here with Agent Romanoff."

"Statement: Affirmative, Master." The Assassin droids says as Natasha speaks up "I'd sit this one out, boys." Her words went unheeded as Jarik jumped without a parachute, could the Force really sustain the fall for him? Agent Romanoff didn't know but she presumed as much.

"I don't see how we can." Captain America responds as he finished. "These guys come from legends, they're basically gods." Natasha spoke out loudly again as Rogers moved closer to the ramp. "There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." Steve said before he jumped.

…

They landed with a thud, Loki thrown to the ground, groans at the impact but rolls up with a laugh, his ire fixed upon his surocate brother, Thor Odinson whom held Mjolnir in a tight grip. "Where is the Tesseract?"

Loki kept laughing. "I missed you too." However the God of Thunder wasn't amused by the statement. "Do I look to be in a gaming mood?!" He bellowed, the God of Mischief scoffed as he struggled slowly to get up "Oh, you should thank me. With the Bifrost gone how much dark energy did the Allfather have to muster to conjure you here? Your precious Earth."

Thor puts the hammer down, the sheer weight quaked the mountain for a instance as the Asgardian Prince picks his surocate brother up. "I thought you dead." He murmured with a solemn tone yet it had an edge of anger and disappointment.

"Did you mourn?" Loki asked, Thor looked at him bewildered. "We all did. Our father—" but was halted by Loki whom raised his finger. "Your father." he corrected as Thor let go of Loki whom started to wander away. "He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?"

"We were raised together, we played together, we fought together. Do you remember none of that?" Thor pleaded the man whom he loved as a brother. A sentiment which Loki didn't share as he turned around. "I remember a shadow. Living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss. I who was and should be king!" he chided the god of thunder.

"So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights. No, the Earth is under my protection, Loki." Thor scorned as Loki bursted into another fit of laughter as Thor closes the distance."And you're doing a marvelous job with that. The humans slaughter each other in droves, while you idly threat. I mean to rule them. And why should I not?"

"You think yourself above them." Thor summized as Loki looked right back at him a bit puzzled. "Well, yes." Thor walked closer as he beseeched his brother. "Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. Throne would suit you ill." Loki sneered at his brother and shoves him to the side and walks right up the ledge which he was thrown down at, speaking rather spitfully towards his sibling. "I've seen worlds you've never known about! I have grown, Odinson, in my exile! I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it—"

Thor interrupted with his booming voice. "Who showed you this power? Who controls the would-be-king?" he demanded but Loki shouted back at Thor. "I am a king!"

"Not here! You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream!" Thor snapped as he darted forth and grasped Loki and shook him with every syllable spoken with anger. "You come home." he finally pleaded to his sibling, refusing to give up on him.

"I don't have it." Loki said smugly with a grin, Thor scowled as he reached out with his hand and Mjolnir flies back to his grasp "You need the cube to bring me home, but I've sent it off I know not where."

"You listen well, brother. I—" Thor began to speak before he was tackled down the mountain into the forest bellow by a man in a metal armor colored gold and red in mid-flight.

"I'm listening." Loki said mockingly as his ire turned upon his brother and Ironman whom crashed in the middle of the forest. His brother rolled right back up as Ironman was standing at a distance, the visor moving to reveal the face of Tony Stark.

"Do not touch me again!" Thor bellowed with anger and frustration of this man's intervention in family affairs. "Then don't take my stuff." Tony simply retorted, his ego boosted by his Ironman suit.

"You have no idea what you're dealing with." Thor warned with Mjolnir raised while Tony snapped back at him as he looked up at the mountain where Loki was standing. "Shakespeare in the park?"

Tony turned his head back, looking at Thor as he mockingly imitated a Shakespear line towards the Asgardian Prince whom kept his cool. "Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?"

"This is beyond you, metal man. Loki will face Asgardian justice!" Thor declared with a booming voice. "He gives up the Cube, he's all yours." Tony says as the visor come down again, sealing the helmet. "Until then, stay out of my way – tourist." He turned around to walk away but Thor swings and hurls the hammer right at him, knocking Ironman into a tree, cracking it in half as he rolls across the forrest terrain.

Loki looks down at the two in amusement, Thor's hammer returns to his grip, swinging it to build up momentum but gets hits by a repulsor blast from a retaliating Ironman, knocking Thor down. Thor rises up again, barely a scratch on him as he raises Mjolnir and calls forth the lightning and thunder to strike from his hammer at Ironman with a barrage of lightning! Which instead of harming Tony Stark, instead powers up his suit, he lashes out with both repulsors and blasts Thor across the clearing. Ironman soars forward with Thor heading right back at him, they grabble and ascend. Ironman elbows the Asgardian Prince and smashes him into the mountain side which Thor finds purcase and leaps with Ironman in his grasp back into the forest, cracking trees in their descent.

Thor and Ironman were quick to get back on their feet. Tony tries to punch Thor which blocks both gauntlets, grabbling them as he starts to break the integrity of the armor. However that's when both Ironman and Thor is suddenly thrown back as if a wedge had come between them and there stood Jarik Shan with his lightsaber active. "Stand down, both of you!" He bellowed to both of them. They both look at him but Jarik turns as to face Thor whom despite the brawl looked regal. "I knew negotiations weren't your strong suit, Stark but this is ridiculous." The newly arrived Jedi said with the tip of the lightsaber pointed at the God of Thunder until Captain America arrived shortly after. "Now, I don't know what you plan on doing here."

"I've come here to put an end to Loki's schemes!" Thor bellowed, Jarik sensing the truth in the Asgardian Prince's words. "He speaks the truth, Captain." which halted Roger's tongue and turned his gaze towards Jarik and gave him an acknowledging nod. "Then let us do so, together." Steve Rogers said to Thor whom looked genuinely suprised by the offer and decides to put a lid on his emotions, atleast for now.


	7. A Ticking Clock

**A/N:** _I apologize for the delay of this chapter but real life has kept me occupied most of the time along playing the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt which I wholeheartidly recommend by the way. Also I was considering to post a flashback from when Order Sixty Six was issued but the Chapter is big enough as it is so I'll save it for the next one. I hope you enjoy your read!_

Ever since they returned to the Helicarrier, SHIELD has not let the God of Mischief out of their sight. A full STRIKE team in their tactical gear was escorting him through the ship. Loki's wrists was restrained by HK-47's handcuffs which seemed far more durable to what they had on hand. The God of Mischief was smiling and walks with confideonce in spite of being a prisoner.

Bruce Banner looked away from the Scepter in his laboratory when Loki passed by, his ire never leaving the famed scientist whom rubbed his head. He had seen the Asgardian smile and nod at him which didn't really put Banner at ease. Not one bit, especially considering the scepter was something out of this world and would be hard to fully comprehend. He decisvely took a break and head to the briefing table on the bridge where the other Avengers was looking through monitor showing the God of Mischief being ushered into a glass circular glss cell held by hydraulic rigs.

The One-eyed Director of SHIELD approached a panel. "In case it's unclear. You try to escape. You so much as scratch that glass." He bellowed as he pressed a button, the hatch underneath the cell opened up and the gust of wind filled up the compartment.

"Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?!" Nick Fury threatened as he closed the hatch and points to Loki with a gesture of his hands. "Ant."

"Boot." He stated firmly as he gestured back to the panel. If the God of Mischief was afraid he didn't show it. "It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me." He retorted with a smirk plastered over his face rather confidently.

"Built for something a lot stronger than you." Fury corrected the Trickster whom seemed more smug and confident than he first came aboard the Helicarrier. "Oh, I've heard." Loki said as he looked straight into the Camera, at those watching him with that glint in the eye which didn't put Jarik at ease. They were all watching the interrogation intently.

"The mindless beast, makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control." Nick Fury said, sneering at the Trickster. "You talk about peace and you kill `cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

"Ooh. It burns you to come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is." The Trickster teased the Director whom forced a smile. "Well, you let me know if Real Power wants a magazine or something." He said before leaving the Trickster alone whom ire was set upon the Camera, his smirk growing wider before the monitor goes black.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room which was broken by Banner. "He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Steve took it as his queue to keep talking, see if they can come up with a plan. He didn't like how easy it was bringing him in. "Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?"

Thor turned around, apparently couldn't bare seeing his brother on screen being interrogated and imprisoned. He spoke with an authoritive voice and had a commanding presence. "He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army? From outer space?" Captain America responded, his tone was flat and serious. It was hard for him to grasp. Jarik sat down in one of the chairs, his helmet was on the table as he contemplated. "If it is the size of what the Empire can muster then we're trouble." Jarik deadpanned, still worried that the Dark Lords of the Sith behind the Empire had sensed the turmoil in the force like he had when the Portal first had opened in the P.E.G.A.S.U.S. Facility in New Mexico.

"So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for." Banner mused as he leaned back in his chair. Thor's attention turned towards the man "Selvig?" He asked.

"He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend." Thor corrected sternly towards the Scientist who took the hint but before he could respond Natasha Romanoff filled the God of Thunder in. "Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours." Javik winced, he could feel the internal struggle and turmoil going inside the woman yet she showed remarkable strength and control.

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here." Rogers said rather analytically. He was correct, unless Loki had subordinating officers with a plan already in motion.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him." Banner's words seemed to upset Thor as he took a step closer towards the table. "Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother."

"He killed eighty people in two days." Natasha deadpanned, Thor averted his gaze a bit "He's adopted."

HK-47 seemed very amused. "Commentary: Eighty people in two days is nothing, meatbags. I once terminated one hundred and four targets in a mere couple of hours." He chiped in proudly which sent a chill down the other Avenger's spine. "One of my best works to date that I can remember."

"Why is he here again?" Banner inquired which Jarik spoke up to answer. "Because despite his habits, Doctor Banner. I'd rather have him as an ally rather than my enemy."

"How so, has it something to do with him being the ultimate jedi killer or is there something you have neglected to tell us?" Inquired Maria Hill whom despite the circumstances saw an oppertunity to get some answers. It was silent for a while as Jarik let out a sigh. "I didn't want you to be concerned for nothing. When the Portal first opened, I felt it in the force. It was unlike anything I had ever experience and it brought me to my knees."

The bridge was silent as they were listening. "I fear that the Sith may have felt the disturbance in the Force and the power behind it. If they do then it will be a matter of time before they investigate it." Thor looked at Jarik with a puzzled expression.

"The Allfather once spoke of The Force, that it was what connected everything in the Universe. Jedi and Sith aren't unknown to Asgard and there are those whom even transcened beyond death." The God of Thunder spoke in a wary tone.

"There is no death, there is The Force." Agent Hill mused as if she finally understood, intrigued by the revelation. Jarik shook his head as he rose to his feet. "The Force isn't a tool to be exploited, it's not a weapon to be wielded carelessly. It's an ally and a powerful one at that. Life creates and nurishes it. Its energy binds us and surrounds us. It's everywhere; between all of us. Between Thor and his hammer. Between the Helicarrier and the Atlantic." Jarik elaborated with a voice which was almost soothing. "We are luminous beings and not just prude matter. To be one with the Force is to be beyond the fear of death."

"That is incredible." Steve spoke in apparent awe whereupon Banner cleared his throat as to get their attention."As interesting the Force is, we got more pressing matters to discuss. Iridium, what did they need the Iridium for?" He inquired, Jarik smiled in appreciation of the change of subject and if on queue the door to the bridge opened and no other than Tony Stark himself entered the bridge. "It's a stabilizing agent." Said Tony as he walked beside Agent Coulson whom he turned to and spoke quickly and with a lowered voice. "I'll fly you there. Keep the love alive."

"Means the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at SHIELD." He then said loud for everyone to hear as he walked closer to the briefing table, circling. "No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing." Tony said to Thor and patted his muscular arm, the God of Thunder perked a brow in confussion of the nickname.

"Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants." Stark continued to explain as he walked to the control tables and watched over the crew. If Loki could keep a new portal open indefinitely; the disruption in the Force for a such extended period would be felt by the Sith Lords.

"Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship the top sails." He ordered, earning him many raised eyebrows from the crew and eyerolls from Romanoff. "That man is playing GALAGA!" Tony then blurted out as he pointed to an agent by a console by the far end of the bridge which was fidgeting and pretending to work. "Thought we wouldn't notice. But we did."

Coverng one of his eye, he looks around. "How does Fury do this?" he asked, the antics of his seems to fuel HK-47's amusement as Maria Hill bluntly responded. "He turns."

Tony woul look around the monitors and frowns. "Well, that sounds exhausting." He said, Jarik noticing how Tony displayed a habit of touching everything. The Jedi has learned not to underestimate the man in spite of his habits, with that knowledge and senses he noticed how Tony placed a button size device underneath one of the consoles without any noticing.

"The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube." He continued to elaborate.

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Agent Hill asked a bit cynically in hope to shut hm up, sadly it only added food to the fire. "Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?"

Jarik didn't show it but he was very impressed by Stark's ability to absord information and know it by heart in a short timespan. If he had been born in the Republic then the war would've looked very different indeed and maybe had a different outcome but that was probably wishful thinking on his part.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked which Banner promptly answered. "He's got to heat the cube to a hundredand twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier."

"Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect." Tony interjeced as he and Banner threw hypothesis to one another. "Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet."

"Finally, someone who speaks English." Tony said with a new appreciation in his voice as he walked over to Banner. Steve looked confused "Is that what just happened?" he muttered as Tony and Banner shake hands. Jarik could sense the mutual respect between the two scientists. "It's good to meet you, Doctor Banner. You're work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

Banner seemed a bit uncomfortable as he looks down, averting his gaze from Tony while murming thanks.

Nick Fury then walked in on the bridge, as intimidating as always. "Doctor Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him."

 **"** Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon." Steve commented, eager to change the subject as to not make Banner anymore uncomfortable. A sentiment which Jarik shared.

 **"** I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys." Fury comments irritately, the reference flying over Thor's head. **"** Monkeys? I do not understand."

"I do! I understood that reference." Rogers exclaimed proudly while Tony rolls his eyes before turning his attention to Banner **.** "Shall we play, doctor?"

"Let's play some." Banner said in agreement. "Hey, Mandy. Are you coming?" Tony asked Jarik whom could only sigh at the mocking nickname for Mandalorians. All the same he rose to his feet and came with the scientists and HK-47 following him. "Query: The Meatbag called you Mandy, shall I kill him for you Master?"

"No, while Mandy is a degrading nick for Mandalorians. He gives everyone nicknames." He elaborated as they walked towards the laboratory. The assassination droid processed the information. "Conclusion: If you weren't already my master, Master. Then he would be a ideal master, Master."

Tony seemed very amused by the droid's statement. "For being around four thousand years old, you're quite proficient in combat. Although you look a bit worn out—"

"Objection: Worn out! Listen you ignorant organic meatbag, one word from my master I'll tear you apart limb from useless limb!" HK-47 aggressivly interjected in the middle of Tony's sentence. "Did he just call me a ignorant organic meatbag?" Tony asked Banner whom nodded with a smirk on his face. "I think he just did."

"Fury is wrong, the Tesseract doesn't power the Scepter." Jarik murmured to Banner and Stark once they were in the laboratory. "How do you know?"

"Because it came here with Loki whom would've the Tesseract in his possession. While the power is of similar origin but is differently attuned to the Force." The Jedi explained while the two brilliant minds listened and nodded. "He's right about that and we still ought to investigate every possible avenues." Banner said while Tony nodded in agreement. "Let's get to it then, Doc."

...

"What do you make of him Cap?" The SHIELD Director as he sat down opposite of the exalted world war two veteran whom perked a brow "Sir?" The Briefing table of the bridge was vacant besides them. Thor and Agent Coulson stood several paces out of reach for them to eavesdrop.

"The Jedi, what do you think of him?" He elaborates his inquiry. Steve answered without a beat and from the heart. "Having seen him in action, I'm glad he's on our side."

"Be that as it may be, I can't help but feel he's not entirely forthcoming." He responded not so entirely convinced of the Jedi's allegiance. Steve hated to admit it but Fury had a point. "The Clone War."

"Exactly, in spite of what's said. We've no idea what happened. Just a game changing outcome." Fury continued to speak with a jaded edge to his voice. "He's an enigma in spite of what he've told us. The more I hear about the Force makes me think he's a religious nutjob. What if the Jedi are those we should he concerned about."

"Are you second guessing him now?" Steve asked, slightly intrigued by the Director whom have also been so sure about himself and his decisions. Fury stared the Captain down with eyebrows narrowed. "Hardly, Cap. I prefer to be prepared for the worst. You should too. What if the Empire does find Earth. There will be a global invasion and considering it's us against a galactic empire. It might be a losing fight."

"Even if we lose, we'll fight until our last breath." Steve responded reassuringly. "Besides if history has taught of anything. Even if they were victorious and subjugated us. The people would not give in to oppression and whenever the opportune moment came to light, they would fight off the invaders."

"Like when the barbarians rose up and fought their Roman overlords or when the Swedes broke away from the Kalmar Union." Fury said with a smile. "There are many examples of people whom wouldn't budge and surrender their cultural identity and freedom to the whims of a foreign entity." Steve and Fury were of one mind about this eventuality that if necessary the world would fight the occupying empire should they ever invade and the lack of a global government would make it difficult for them to maintain order. Besides, Earth also had the Avengers and that had to count for something.

...

Bruce kept monitoring the Scepter as he've done for the past several hours, scanning it while Tony kept himself busy with solving algorithms and equations. Jarik had been with them for a hour before retiring for some meditation while HK-47 remained and put in stand-by mode. "The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports on the Tesseract. But it's gonna take weeks to process to determine if they're just linked or if it's powered by the Tesseract." Bruce said with a sigh, Jarik's insight had hardly made it easier but they at least had another hypothesis. "If we bypass their mainframe and direct a reroute to the Homer cluster, we can clock this around six hundred teraflops." Tony casually responded.

"All I packed was a tooth brush." Bruce joked as he shook his head in mild frustration. Tony spoke with a smile.

"You know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime. Top ten floors, all

R&D. You'd love it, it's candy land." It sounded very good to Bruce ears and he appreciated the sentiment but he didn't trust the big guy. "Thanks, but the last time I was in New York I kind of broke...Harlem." The scientist responded as he averted his gaze in embarrassment.

"Well, I promise a stress free environment. No tension. No surprises." Tony said casually as he then out of nowhere poked Bruce with small electrical rod. Steve had entered the laboratory and saw the latest of Tony's shenanigans and wasn't pleased to say the least. "OW!" Bruce complained as he rubbed the sore spot where the rod poked. All the while Tony examined the Scientist intently. "Nothing?" He asked with a mild disappointment.

"Hey! Are you nuts?" Steve exclaimed loudly through the lab which woke HK-47 from his stand-by mode and his photoreceptors sweeped the lab in a instant and grasped the rifle. Tony ignored the Veteran as he spoke to Banner. "You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?"

"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve spoke loudly to Stark whom turned around to face his father's hero. "Funny things are." he responded casually. "Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offense, doctor."

"No, it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things." Bruce responded, understanding the wariness of Captain America. "Commentary: Fret not, Captain. I've since the reception of the briefing packages conducted thorough analysis and simulations as to how to terminate each and everyone of you meatbags if necessary ofcouse." HK-47 proclaimed proudly. Steve pointed at the droid. "Not helping."

"You're tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut." Tony said to Banner, ignoring the droid whom chipped in with a comment. "And you need to focus on the problem, Mister Stark." Steve bellowed furiously "You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables." Tony retorted to the Super Soldier whom seemed to calm down a bit but just barely. "You think Fury's hiding something?"

"He's a spy. Captain, he's the spy. His secrets have secrets." Tony elaborated, to be fair Steve mentally admitted that Tony had a point. "It's bugging him too, isn't it?" The Mechanic said as he nodded to Bruce whom was now fidgeting a bit nervously. "Uh...I just wanna finish my work here and..."

Steve interrupted while Banner was struggling with the words "Doctor?"

A beat came and went before Bruce lrt out a sigh and spoke. "A warm light for all mankind, Loki's jab at Fury about the cube."

"I heard it." Steve responded, not exactly seeing the point. Bruce nodded as he pointed to Tony. "Well, I think that was meant for you. Even if Barton didn't post that all over the news."

Steve then made the connection and tried not to laugh. "The Stark Tower? That big ugly—" Tony gave Steve a scowl which hushed the Captain's word a bit towards the end of the sentence. "—building in New York?" Bruce didn't give them any room to argue further Luke kids but kept talking. "It's powered by Stark Reactors, self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?"

Tony seemed to have forgotten or disregarded Steve's comment about the tower. **"** That's just the prototype. I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right

now." He said proudly, not responded only by his ego but also understanding the point Banner was trying to make.

"So, why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" Tony drummed his fingers as he pondered. "I should probably look into that once my decryption programmer finished breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files."

Steve was taken back as his stare became more tense. "I'm sorry, did you say...?"

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours we'll know

every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide." Tony said too casually and indifferently as he walked over to the Captain and held out a bag of blueberries. "Blueberry?"

Steve fought to urge to bash the bag out of Tony's hand and responded coldly. "Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around?"

"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not possible." Tony snarkly retorted as he walked back to one of the monitors. Steve shook his head. "I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them."

"Following is not really my style." Tony snapped back with a bit hint of apathy. Steve smiled a bit mockingly. "And you're all about style, aren't you?"

Tony twitched at the response, his attention fully on the Captain now whom obviously hit a nerve. "Of the people in this room, which one is; A. wearing a spangly outfit, and B. not of use?"

Bruce then interjected in hope to diffuse the brewing arguments "Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?"

There was then a silence in the laboratory. Steve was conflicted as he inwardly pondered but going around the chain of command wasn't an option or was it? "Just find the cube." He said before walking out the lab, his emotions conflicted.

"That's the guy my dad never shut up about? Wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice." Tony murmured loudly with a frown."The guy's not wrong about Loki. He does have the jump on us." Bruce chipped in with his thoughts.

"What he's got is an ACME dynamite kit." Tony retorted as he looked over to Bruce. "It's gonna blow up in his face, and I'm gonna be there when it does."

"And I'll read all about it." Bruce said with feigned enthusiasm. Tony looked at him with disbelief. "Uh-huh. Or you'll be suiting up like the rest of us."

"Ah, see. I don't get a suit of armor. I'm exposed, like a nerve. It's a nightmare." Bruce said as he shook his head. Tony sighed as he walked closer, his tone becoming more serious. "You know, I've got a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to crawl its way into my heart."

He then paused and pointed to the miniature ARC reactor by his chest. "This stops it. This little circle of light. It's part of me now, not just armor. It's a... terrible privilege."

"But you can control it." Bruce retorted, slightly annoyed now. "Because I learned how."

"It's different." Bruce said, eager to leave the topic and returned his full attention to the monitor which Tony slides aside and soon enough they were face to face. "Hey, I've read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you."

"So you're saying that the Hulk... the other guy... saved my life?" Bruce answered in disbelief as he cynically smiled. "That's nice. It's a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?"

Tony shrugged. "I guess we'll find out." With that said, they got back to work. HK-47 let out an annoyed groan as he then spoke. "Statement: Meatbag pheromone-driven responses never cease to decrease the charge in my capacitors after all these years and still make me wish I could press a blaster pistol to my behaviour core and pull the trigger."

...

Thor gaze lingered on the monitor displaying the image and record of Jane Foster. He felt at a lose seeing a image of her and not there to keep her safe when Loki is threatening Midgard. The Son of Coul spoke to him with a solemn smile. "As soon as Loki took the doctor we moved Jane Foster. We've got an excellent observatory in Tromso, Norway. She was asked to consult there very suddenly yesterday. Handsome fee, private plane, very remote. She'll be safe." Thor smiled, appreciating the Midgardian's sentiment.

"Thank you. It's no accident Loki taking Erik Selvig. I dread what he plans for him once he's done. Erik is a good man." The God of Thunder told the Son of Coul. "He talks about you a lot. You changed his life. You changed everything around here." The way which he had said that filled with pride and dread.

"They were better as they were. We pretend on Asgard that we're more advanced, but we...we come here battling like Bilchstein." The Son of Coul perked a brow. "Like what?"

"Bilchstein? You know; huge, scaly, big antlers. You don't have those?" He explained as he described the horns with his fingers. "Don't think so." The midgardian shook his head.

"They are repulsive, and they trample everything in their path." Thor answered shaking his head as he walked over to the window. "When I first came to earth, Loki's rage followed me here and your people paid the price. And now again. In my youth I courted war." He said mournfully.

"War hasn't started yet." said a voice which Thor knew came from Nick Fury, the Midgardian with bronze skin and an edge to his voice. "You think you can make Loki tell us what the Tesseract is?"

"I do not know. Loki's mind is far afield, it's not just power he craves, it's vengeance upon me. There's no pain that would prize his need from him." Thor answered the Director solemnly that his brother had fallen so far into darkness.

"A lot of guys think that, until the pain stops." Thor frowned att the prospect of which Fury was suggested. "What are you asking me to do?"

"I'm asking. What are you prepared to do?" The Director's gaze pierced into the God of Thunder whom resented what he suggested, to kill his own brother? "Loki is a prisoner."

"Then why do I feel like he's the only person on this boat that wants to be here?" Fury snapped back and there was an unerring silence, Thor was at loss for words even though he grasped for answers but found none.


	8. Brewing Storm

**A/N:** _Here's another chapter, a build up to the fight on the Helicarrier along with a brief flashback from Jarik's time after Order Sixty Six was issued. I'm also happy announce that I'm done with my studies for the summer so I'll have more free time to write until further notice. Do enjoy your read and please do review as I'd like to hear your thoughts about the story and the characters along with their interactions! The more detail; the better I comprehend of what to do next!_

 **...**

 _The fear and hatred was only surpassed by the pain and death throughout the galaxy. A heavy disturbance in the force which made all surviving Jedi tremble. Their order was no more, their temple was in ruins and the Republic they've protected now an Empire whom sought their eradication._

 _Jarik Shan gasped for air, his eyelids snapped open while he frantically tried to think. Where was he? He had a look around the rather sterile with the medical bed he was in, there was a medical droid approaching and pressed a few buttons. The Jedi could feel the admististration of the sedative into his systems but the droid didn't say a word._

 _"Where am I?" He had asked the droid when the door opened. "Somewhere safe from the Empire." said an elderly but skinny man with a heavy Stewjan accent. "Atleast for now." Jarik knew the man before him in the sleek imperial naval uniform. Captain Ethan Kyral, a decorated military officer within the newly established galactic empire whom was responsible for the death of many Jedi. "You shot me."_

 _"Yet you live, can't say the same for your clone." Jarik perked a brow at the jaded man whom had so readily retorted."Do you really think that we would've let the last descendant of Revan die?"_

 _The Jedi made the connection instantly. "You are Revanites." He said with a scowl upon the deceitful puppeteer before him. "Yes, your ancestors's most faithful followers. However this is hardly the time for sentiment." The man's brushy eyebrows narrowed as he approached to the bed. "There's no more room for the Jedi in the galaxy."_

 _"That's why you're killing them?" Jarik sneered, his anger boiling. "To save you! You've been on the run for a long while and it was hard enough to catch up to you then feign your death. Atleast you can show some gratitude." The old man scolded him like some ignorant child._

 _"I had to prove my loyalty and it's worked so far. We're fighting a new kind of war and it can only be won with your survival."_

 _"You're mad to believe that I can cripple an Empire." Jarik shook his head as he struggled to get out of the bed but the sedative had already taken hold of him._

 _"Why not, Revan certainly did. He brought the Mandalorians and the Old Republic to their knees." Kyral answered as he stood right above the Jedi in his bed, like if he was a infant, a weapon to be shaped. "You'll rest and when you're ready; you'll disappear."_

Jarik's eyes snapped open as he returned from the painful memory. The room he was in aboard the Helicarrier was derelict. He withdrew earlier to meditate on hope for some insight to Loki's plan but to no avail so far, the Dark Side is clouding any extensive foresight like in the war and it made him uneasy.

He rose and walked out into hall, his eyes catching Agent Romanoff heading down to Loki's cell. "Going somewhere, Agent Romanoff?" Jarik inquired which made the agent to stop in her tracks and turn around. "Just to interrogate Loki, see if I can make him spill some beans."

"Very well, just be wary. I've tried to get some insight through the Force but all attempts at extensive foresight have been halted by the Dark Side." The Jedi spoke, not really entirely comfortable sharing the informaton to a complete stranger but as Obi-wan had said in his last message to all surviving Jedi, to trust in the Force. She narrowed her thin eyebrows before she came to a decision. "Why don't you come with?"

"Lead the way, Agent." he responded to the agent whom nodded curtly as she turned on her heels and started to walk again with Jarik following her through the Helicarrier. "Why are you here?" she finally asked. "I know what motivate Stark, Banner, Rogers and Thor but you?"

"You truly don't believe me when I say it's because it's the will of the Force?" The Jedi scoffed in retort as she shook her head. "Not in the slightest." There was some more silence before they reached Loki's glass cell. Within it, the God of Mischief's cell whom was walking back and forth until he finally stopped.

"There's not many people that can sneak up on me." Loki said callously before turning his ire upon the two of them. "But you figured I'd come." Agent Romanoff said as the God of Mischief decided to cut in on her sentence. "Yes, after. But not with the Jedi Knight." Loki grinned as there was a new glint in his mischievious eyes. "They will never accept you know, you'll be forever an outsider to them." Jarik had to admit he certainly had a way with words and in spite of being incarcerated, he seemed awfully confident as if he was in control.

"I want to know what you've done to Agent Barton." Agent Romanoff cooly demanded, earning herself another grin from the God of Mischief. "I would say I've expanded his mind."

"And once you've won. Once you are king of the mountain. What happens to his mind?" She continued to speak through her callous veil while deep inside, Jarik could sense her emotions. "Is this love, Agent Romanoff?"

"Love is for children. I owe him a debt." She scoffed in response to the God of Mischief whom feigned a benevolent smile as he turned his ire to Jarik. "What about you, do Jedi believe in love?" He asked rhetorically. "Ofcouse you don't. Ironically it's what the Code forbade your order which caused its downfall."

Jarik perked a brow, the Asgardian possessed more knowledge about him and the order than the other way around, which was troublesome to say the least. He was also very curious as to what the God of Mischief implied, that Darth Sidious' apprentice was a Jedi whom fell to the Dark Side of the Force? No, it couldn't be but it made sense. "Ah, I see that's news to you, it's akin to your ancestor." Jarik was at a loss for words while the God of Mischief was certainly full of them. "Do your new so-called-friends also know about the Clone Wars, how it got its name? How the bastion of galactic democracy bred a slave army of clones in the millions to fight a war raging across the galaxy with the casualties in the billions." He continued with a glooming tone to his voice.

The Jedi would've a comeback to the God of Mischief but what he had said was the truth. The Republic had bred an army of slaves and fought a war with billions of casualties. "No wonder why the Republic fell, it had for years decayed and changed. Like Earth will change under my rule. There will be no corruption. There will be global peace and security—" The God of Mischief spoke but the Jedi's voice boomed, his anger seeping through interrupting him in midsentence. "Silence your poisonous tongue, Asgardian. Whatever you will offer me, I'll have none of it. I'm a Jedi and always will be one." Loki had spoken the truth and there was no escaping it no matter how much it hurt him.

The God of Mischief stood there in silence with his mischievious grin of his, laughing under his breath. "You desperately cling to a code which has proved time and time again to be flawed. Your order is gone, Jedi. It's time your face that truth." Anger was building up within Jarik, like a volcano the fumes within is kept under a lid like everything else for so many years from hiding after a devestating war, it was boiling and almost to a tipping point. The interior of the room suddenly buckled inwards, like if a gigantic hammer was bullogining it again and again. Jarik wasn't aware of it happening until Agent Romanoff punched his jaw. He staggered and fell from the sudden exhaustion followed by the unanticipated flood of emotions, he looked up and saw in Agent Romanoff's vivid green eyes that she was afraid.

"Even now your code has failed you." Loki gloated, pleased with how he had managed to get underneath the skin of the Jedi whom tried to rise but was too exhausted, Agent Romanoff paid the God of Mischief no heed as she grasped the Jedi and pulled him out of earshot. "What was that?" Agent Romanoff said as she pushed him against the wall, he averted his gaze in shame of what had happened. "Tell me!" she demanded with a intimidating tone to her callous voice. Her current demeanor spoke volumes as did her emotions, it was both fear and determination, a determination for answers.

"The Force, what you saw in there was how the Force reacts with unharnessed anger. Devestation to immediate surroundings." Jarik answered, grasping for air as he tried to calm himself. Agent Romanoff shook her head in disbelief. "What he said, was it true?"

There was an uncomfortable silence in the hallway. He knew what she talked about, the Jedi and the Clone Wars. "Yes." He answered with a sigh, feeling how the Dark Side loomed closer and for the first time in years feared of what was to come. His anger had boiled to the surface and, wait. Anger. "He's going to incite the Hulk."

 **…**

Tony Stark was browsing the files he forcefully accessed by remotingly hacking into the SHIELD databas through JARVIS. Naturally his software would've been discovered when he accessed the files which meant that Nick Fury was probably on the way to the labratory from the Bridge. Well isn't this interesting and what do you know right on queue; Nick Fury enters and speak with his demanding and authorative demeanor. "What are you doing, Mister Stark?"

"Uh...kind of been wondering the same thing about you." Tony retorted dismissingly as the SHIELD Director stared intently at the two scientists who stood behind the transparent monitor staring at the data. "You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract."

"We are. The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile." Doctor Banner responded and pointed to another monitor showing the ongoing scans. "And you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss." Tony just said as he accessed and put a collectio nof secret files on display. "What is PHASE 2?" he mused curiously as Steve Rogers drops a sophisticated firearm on the table with an echo which resonated throughout the labratory and drew everyone's attention. "PHASE 2 is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons." Captain America voiced, his demeanor suggested his stern dissapointment like an officer catching his subordinate redhanded."Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow." He continued in Ironman's direction.

Nick Fury closed the distance between him and the Super Soldier, speaking in an attempt to explain the situation. "Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're—" However he was interrupted by Tony's voice. "I'm sorry, Nick."

They all turned towards the monitor which he turned showing all in the labratory including. "What were you lying?" Tony moves the computer screen towards Fury which shows the one of the many blueprints for the Phase Two arsenal; a missile powered by the cube's cosmic energy.

"I was wrong, director. The world hasn't changed a bit." Steve said sternly, disappointed while Thor, Agent Romanoff and Jarik entered the labratory. The Female's eyes were set upon Banner whom met her gaze, fuming with anger. "Did you know about this?"

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?" She asked coolly, and to those whom knew her would see through that it wasn't a request it was a demand.

"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed." He mockingly retorted to the Agent whom was far from amused. Stark and Rogers were at each others throats debating with Fury while HK-47 moved closer to examine the weapon. "Statement: A disintegration rifle once powered by cosmic energy. You meatbags sure have taken many leaps backwards to use slugthrowers." Tony glared towards the droid and shook his head. "Great now the rusty bucket is commenting."A response which earned him the droid's cold ire.

"Warning: This rusty bucket can blast you to oblivion sooner than you can say _mercy,_ meatbag." A threat which had Jarik step in between before it got really ugly. "Stand down, HK-47." which the droid reluctantly acknowledged.

"Loki's manipulating you." Natasha told Banner whom mused at the irony of the concept. "And you've been doing what exactly?" he accusedly retorted to the agent who tilted her head and responded with subtle annoyance. "You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy." He responded, having enough of the farce in the labratory as he walked closer to the monitor and pointing at it while loudly tried to get it all back on topic. "I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

"Because of them." The SHIELD Director said as he gestured towards Thor, Jarik and HK-47. The God of Thunder frowned but didn't say a word while Jarik shook his head, they decided to shut down the Avengers Initiative in favour of Phase Two but now with the Tesseract gone they had to fall back to Plan B as it were.

"Last year earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. Simultaniously a fugitive from a galactic empire in hiding makes himself known and later activated an ancient killing machine in a crashed derelict starship. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned." Nick Fury elaborated while the God of Thunder took a step closer and voiced his protest."My people want nothing but peace with your planet."

HK-47 clutched his grip on his blasters tighter as if ready to engage in combat but a glare from both Captain America and Jarik Shan put him in his place. "But you're not the only people out there, are you? There's the Galactic Empire and I'm most certain that even they are the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve scolded the Director as Thor folded his arms, his booming voice resonated throughout the labratory. "You're work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"A higher form?" Steve said cynically but Jarik decided to chip in, this was getting out of hand. Emotions were in turmoil amongst all of them even himself and he was struggling. "Thor is right, it causes disturbances in The Force; litting up like a beacon for force sensitives."

"You forced our hand. We had to come up with something." The Colonel responded to the God of Thunder, once again Tony Stark wisecracks it with another mocking comment. "Nuclear deterrent. `Cause that always calms everything right down."

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?" The Director said with annoyance to the genius and from there, the arguments escalated faster than a wild fire in a dry grassland drenched in gasoline. Captain America and Ironman were at each others throats in their arguements while Thor and Nick Fury went on with their heated debate. Agent Romanoff scorned Banner in their argument. None of them noticed how the Scepter's gem was gleaming with energy. Jarik looked around, being the eye in the storm that was the labratory and he stared at the scepter. He felt the Force radiating from it and how it combined with the cosmic energy, it acted like a mindtrick on all of them. He should've seen it but the Dark Side clouded his perception of what was going on until now. "It's a trap."


	9. Duel of the Helicarrier

**A/N:** _Here it is, I can't help but feel slightly nervous as this was the first real lightsaber duel which I've written and in hope for it to be as authetnic to the Star Wars lore as possible. Also, I decided to chip in more than Darth Maul into the story, you know those Sith Assassins with Force Pikes from the second KOTOR game? Well, those are here too. Also, expect a suprise at the end of the chapter, do enjoy your read and please don't hold back your criticism as I sorely need it to become a better writer and also make the future lightsaber duels more awesome and hopefully longer than in this chapter._

Revenge was said to be a dish best served cold, Darth Maul disagreed. It was best served warm with the blood of his enemies and rage fuming through his very essence. Maul wasn't foolish enough to rely soley on the henchmen provided but on the trained assassins of the Sith Cabal whom followed the ancients teachings of using their prey's strength in the force to fuel their own powers. They were armed with force pikes and dressed lightly in black garments with masks covering their visage. They move around unhindered by cloaking themselves with the Force. However, Darth Maul had explicitly ordered them and the Jedi was his but the rest were theirs.

Darth Maul had no use of stealth, he wanted the Jedi to seek him and thus every patrol encountered was crushed by his abilities which boggled the natives of this primitive world; why Loki wanted it he didn't understand but his Master's instructions were explicitly clear, aid him until the point of no return. Darth Maul wasn't a fool to mistrust his master's vision that Loki would fail conquering the Earth but he would still become King; the Dathomerian Zabrak had told Loki the later while neglected to inform him of the former.

He felt the rage and anger distracting the Jedi and the others in the labratory. So far he's gone unnoticed but not for long. He didn't need to as one of the engines aboard just exploded and the helicarrier shifted. The Sith Lord grinned; it had begun.

 **…**

Then it happened, as if on queue an exploision was heard and shifted the entire ship, sending everyone flying across the labratory. Doctor Banner and Agent Romanoff fell down to the lower section of the deck which was identified as lower equipment room. Steve dusts himself off as he stares at Tony. "Put on the suit!" The single command which the billionaire couldn't argue with. "Yep!" He was carried out of the labratory while Fury struggles to get back on his feet, clutching his ribs with one hand while the other went to his earpiece. "Hill?!" Thor extends his arm and pull Jarik up to his feet, giving him a curt nod before rushing off.

HK-47 recognizes the situation as he unholsters the blasters. "Query: Blasters warming up master, shall I terminate the intruders with extreme prejudice?" Jarik didn't need to verbally respond and nodded where as the assassination droid left the labratory with newfound glee to his demeanor. The Jedi didn't have the same enthusiasm, this was all a trap and he wasn't alone, he now sensed the dark presence aboard as he puts on his helmet, instantly connecting the communication frequency used by SHIELD and his fellow Avengers. "We lose one more engine, we won't be in the air for long. Somebody's got to get inside and patch that engine." Agent Hill answers through the intercom.

"Stark! You copy that?!" Fury commanded through the same frequency as Jarik left the labratory, determined to seek out the dark presence aboard. "I'm on it!" Ironman chipped in an answer while more orders were issued by the SHIELD Director to one of his senior agents. "Coulson! Initiate official lock down in the detention section then get to the armory! Move out!"

Jarik strided down the hallway towards Loki's cell where het hen stopped as his ire fell upon the man in black standing 5'9" in height wielding what he deduced as a doublebladed lightsaber. His facial mask was rather concealing with a black vertical visor straight above the nose bridge and a black cowl completing the sinister facade alongside the black robe and cybernetic legs. "I have long awaited this moment, Jedi." spoke the Sith with a voice filled with anger and disdain for the Jedi. "You shall perish like the rest of your kind."

Both duelist activated their lightsabers, the glow emitting from respectively blue and red lit up the darkening halls where the power was constantly failing. The Sith had already dropped a few bodies but none had any scorch marks from a lightsaber. The second blade of the Sith lightsaber ignited and their duel began. Jarik recognized the sith form of Niman used as a basis for the Sith alongside a heavy influence of the Fierce Form of lightsaber combat; Juyo. In the face of his aggressive adversary he inititated his combat with the Sith through the Soresu form while moving backwards as the Sith aimed to cut through to his various target zones with increasing ferocity. The warrior was truly a sith warrior as anger and rage fueled his ferocity and during the war, Jarik had learned how to fight such adversaries. They fluidly and expertly parried each other's swings and strikes; both being among the finest duelists of their age.

Jarik fluidly transition from Soresu to Diem So to counter his enemy's fierce advances and uses a Force push to gain some ground before commencing with his counterattacks. His adversaries' employ of acrobatics was hindered slightly by the robe but it wasn't noticable to anyone but the Jedi whom despite being slightly hindered by the Beskar'gam was sufficently protected by the durable and lightsaber resistent alloy of his armor. However to everyone else it was a flurry of light clashing against one another in the dark, both were eager to move out of the confined space that was the hallway. "We got perimeter breach! Hostiles are in SHIELD gear. Hold on to every junction." said a voice throughout the ship by the speakers as the general alert alarm echoed throughout the entire ship as their duel progressed into the labratory where the scepter was huming with activity.

 **…**

Nick Fury had hastily made his way to the bridge in spite of the damage sustained to his ribs while chaos ensued all over the ship. Engine Three was down and the navigation system was recalibrating with the turbine failure. He had annoyedly told the navigation officer to put the sun to his left as to keep the Helicarrier above water whould another engine fail and they drop from the sky like an apple falling from a tree, gravity was a bitch. Fortunately, Ironman was taking care with engine three with the support of Captain America. What was less fortunate was that the Hulk was now rampaging in the lower deck and was in a fist fight with no other than the God of Thunder. "We need a full evac on the lower hanger bay." he snapped an order to his deputy director whom were heading to the end of the bridge when her voice suddenly resonated throughout the bridge. "Grenade!"

From there a firefight for the Bridge started between SHIELD and the mysterious assailants. It was short-lived though by the extensive and superior training of the senior operatives and the presence of Director Fury himself. He quickly dispatched an assailant by a slam to the throat; grasping his weapon as he used one assailant as a meatshield while dispatching a second assailant with an expertly fired headshot before spining the first assailant in a volt and slamed him down to the floor where he was met by a boot to the face.

All the while a third assailant coming up behind the Director was shot down by no other than Agent Hill whom had survived the grenade by being pushed out of the blast radius down to the technician booths. She held her cool as the firefight ensued on the bridge. The assailants were well trained and in full tactical gear and they were swarming the bridge, obviously seeking to terminate their communications system. However other assailants dropped down as if out of nowhere assaulting them with polearms which induces electrical currents through their victims.

A few more assailants entered the bridge's other entrance where they were shot down from behind, they fell to the ground but their backs weren't filled by bullet holes but by the scorch marks from a blaster. Behind them stood HK-47 with his dual blaster pistols held high. "Statement: It is my pleasure to report that the hostiles are being terminated with extreme prejudice." He said with a gleeful tone to his sadistic demeanor whereupon more assailants entered the bridge which made hte assassination droid's capacitors charge with anticipation.

Agent Hill hated to admit it but from what she now saw how the droid flawlessly executed the intruders with well-placed shots of his blasters which **never** missed; she was glad he was there and on their side. HK-47 was like a warm knife while the intruders were like butter, they didn't stand a chance.

One of the assailants with the polearm charged at him but found himself losing a head as he lost the grip of its force pike. The assassination droid picked it up and threw it with precision like a javeline through the chest of another assailant who just came up from behind. "Analyzis: Intriguing, inferior meatbag assassins with force pikes. I would be a poor excuse of a droid if I didn't conclude that these were sith assassins. That means however we got a full fledged sith aboard. How wonderful!" With that the assassination droid continued with his onslaught of intruders.

"Sir, the Hulk and Thor are in shuttle levels 2, 3 and 4!" Agent Sitwell reported from his position. Agent Hill immediately picked it up and relayed the information to the Director. "Sir, the Hulk will tear this place apart!"

"Get his attention." Nick Fury ordered bluntly to his subordinate deputy director whom moved her hand to her earpiece. "Escort 606, proceed to 270 main shuttle! Don't get too close." She spoke curtly and professionally where the pilot responded in a similar monotone manner. "Copy."

 **…**

The God of Mischief had after being released by one of the Sith Assassins walked out as he created a illusion of himself escaping while he hide behind the door just before Thor emerges through it, seeing his duplicate escape; as expected his brother fell for the ruse and charged at him.

"NO!" he bellowed the duplicate crouched in anticipation of the attack but the God of Thunder just ran straight through him as the duplicate dissapates and into the cell. "Are you ever not going to fall for that?" The God of Mischief said smugly as Thor tried to smash the glass with Mjolnir but only causes it to crack while the cell shakes and destabelizes and ready to head down the steel trap.

"The humans think us immortal. Should we test that?" Loki said with a wicked grin to his brother as he approached the control panel. Thor caught sight of the door opening again as through the door came Agent Coulson in his same old suit and carrying a big gun whom dropped the assassin to the ground "Move away, please." The SHIELD agent said curtly to the God of Mischief whom lifted his hands up and took a few steps backwards. The Agent kept his cool in spite of the locked up God of Thunder "You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent _The Destroyer_. Even I don't know what it does. Do you wanna find out?"

Loki smirked as a duplicate manifested behind the Agent and thrust the spearhead of the scepter into the agent's back, piercing his heart. Thor cried out in agony for the loss of his friend whom staggered to the wall and slided down, blood flowing as the God of Thunder let out a solemn cry for his fallen comrade. Loki's duplicate tossed the scepter to the God of Mischief whom gave his so-called brother a mischiveous smirk before pressing the button. The trap door underneath the Cell opened as a gush of roaring air entered the room and then the cell with the God of Thunder was lose and it fell through the steel trap at a increasing velocity.

Loki was free of remorse as he proceeded to close the hatch where his brother just fell through. "You're gonna lose." murmured a weak voice. It came from the dying agent. The God of Mischief turned around as his gaze met the ones of Phil Coulson. "Am I?"

 **"** It's in your nature." The agent deadpanned as his breath grew more rapid and desperate, he was soon out of time. "Your heroes are scattered, your floating fortress falls from the sky – where is my disadvantage?" Loki gloated with his mischievious grin plastered on his face.

"You lack conviction." Agent Coulson said bluntly as he pulled the trigger, a bolt of energy surged through the barrel and hit the God of Mischief in the chest, blowing him through the wall behind him while he was trying to formulate a sentence. "So that's what it does."

 **…**

"You fight well, for a Jedi." The Sith mocked as he made a pirouette to increase the momentum of his lightsaber in a sai cha strike which the Jedi parried expertly before and fluidly riposting which was narrowly avoided. Their duel had taken them further down the hallway to just outside the Labratory. Jarik knew the tactic the Sith was using, trying to get into his head and distract him. However he wouldn't let himself be distracted. The Doubebladed lightsaber was enough to keep Jarik occupied and was grasping how well-versed his adversary was in lightsaber combat which was recognizable from someone who've intensively study lightsaber combat. In fact, Jarik could hazzard a guess as to whom his adversary is. The door automatically slided aside by their approach; Strike, Dodge, Parry, Counterstrike.

The velocity of their blades increased expedentionally as they clashed against one another. "Was Mandalore not to your liking, Maul?" His retort have granted him an opening, he had remained silent during their duel until now with another strike and another parry followed by a ripose, a swing which severed the doublebladed lightsaber in two forcing his opponent to shift to Jar'kai, wielding a lightsaber in each hand as he severly drove the Jedi back in the face of the new ferocious adversity. The Jedi thought fast and the gauntlet vibroblade of his Beskar'gem extended as he started to include it in his duel with Darth Maul whom were caught off-guard by the unorthodox method of the Jedi whom performed a Sun Djem of Maul's off-hand lightsaber, rending it useless. The Sith dropped the weapon as he performed another spin, a cybernetic foot hitting the Jedi's protected head; he was happy for his Beskar'gem as it provided him ample enough protection especially against the likes of Darth Maul. "It will be my pleasure to dismember you." The Sith sneered whereupon the jedi retracted the gauntlet vibroblade when they came to even footing with one lightsaber each, if he was to win then he would do so with honour. "Didn't you have enough of that on Naboo?"

Having succesfully provoked the Sith, their blades clashed once again as flurries of strikes and parries followed along with a few dodges and counterstrikes. Darth Maul knew that he was running out of time as the ship was levelling out and no longer losing altitude. He cided himself for having underestimated the Jedi, it wouldn't happen again. The Sith Lord pushed him back with the Force as he spoke with distain as the door opened and through it came Director Fury with his gun raised. "Until we meet again, Jedi." He said before gesturing with his free hand; lifting a table with the force and smashed the window, the gush of air put the Jedi and the SHIELD Director off the balance long enough for the Sith Lord to jump through it and vanishes among the cloud.

The Helicarrier wasn't losing altitude anymore as Captain America and Ironman manages to get Engine Three up and running while Engine One remains out of function. The Director gave the Jedi a gaze as to follow him. They ran quickly to the detention area where Loki **was** locked up. Jarik was faster as the Force enhanced his speed. He came first to the cell where Agent Coulson was leaning against the wall; dying. Jarik rushed over to the dying man as he crouched down and removed his helmet to meet the agent's gaze. "I get it now…"

He tilted his head with a perked brow at Coulson who smiled weakly. "That those who are one with the Force has surpassed the fear of death – I get it…" The Jedi's heart fell as he for the first time since childhood he actually allowed himself to feel sorrow. Coulson had taken one of the Jedi teachings to heart; _There is no death, there is the Force._

"You were couragous, Coulson." Jarik said to one of his first friends on the planet whom kept his weak smile as light was slowly fading away from his eyes. The door opened yet again but this time it was Nick Fury whom rushed in with pistol raised. When he saw Coulson against the wall, he lowered it and moved to the agent's side. "Sorry, boss. The god rabbited."

The SHIELD Director ignored the Jedi and Coulson's apology. The Jedi felt the fear and sorrow looming deeply in the pragmatic man whom showed nerves of hardest steel as he spoke sentimentally. "Just stay awake. Eyes on me!"

"No. I'm clocking out here." Coulson said meekly with harder breaths as Nick Fury tried to keep the Agent awake and alive. "Not an option." Fury said sternly as if he was ordering a soldier but Phil Coulson just smiled weakly as he spoke. "It's okay, boss. This was never going to work... if they didn't have something... to..." The Agent went numb as if something had just left him and stared absently to the floor, sighing his last breaths. Nick Fury looks on grimly as the medical team arrived too late. Jarik placed a hand on the Director's shoulder, as to show some support but the Director just shrugged it off and rose to his feet. "Agent Coulson is down." He said, not to him but everyone else through the headset as he and Jarik made room for the paramedics.

"Paramedics are on their way." came a response from an operative but Fury shook his head as he and the Jedi looked on as the Paramedics verifies his passing. "They're here and called it."

 **…**

Tony, Steve and Jarik sat down around the briefing table I'm the now partly derelict bridge with only a skeleton crew; they have had plenty of loses in their attack even more so with the Sith Assassins. Jarik sensed the shock and devastation in all avengers present; they all had taken a liking to Phil even though some like Tony wouldn't admit it. They reviewed the video footage of the attack and Loki's escape along with the duel of Jarik and Darth Maul. The other Avengers had run-ins with the Sith Assassins but fortunately they weren't force sensitive and they came out mostly unscathed which was to Jarik's relief. Agent Romanoff was pre-occupied seeing to Barton while they had their meeting. Behind Fury was Agent Hill, choking on a sob over the lost.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them." Said Nick Fury, throwing a pair of Captain America Trading Cards on the briefing table just infront of Rogers. Jarik caught a glimpse of them, they were stained in blood. The very sight of it.

"We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming." The SHIELD Director spoke solemnly and with what Jarik recognized as sentimentality, he had known Agent Coulson more than an employe to Fury and someone whom he absolutely trusted. The Director sighed as he turned, Jarik knew that face. It was the same which his master expressed when he had something important to say. "Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes."

With that said, Tony gets up from his seat; torn and sorrowful as he walks off leaving the bridge leaving the rest solemn behind. "Well, it's an old fashioned notion." Jarik sighed as he shook his head as he looked over to Steve; they both nodded as they rose from their seats and went after Stark. HK-47 concluded that due to the recent conflict; he couldn't leave his master and his designated successor to go unsupervised. They knew where to find Tony, in the now empty detention chamber with the absent cell. There was an uneering quiet in the room before Steve spoke up. "Was he married?"

"No. There was a uh... cellist, I think." Tony murmured in respond, lost in deep thought as if he was analyzing it like a puzzle. Jarik kept to the background as they were all in civilian garments which were in this case, T-shirts.

"I'm sorry. He seemed like a good man." Steve said, hoping his words to comfort Ironman whom out of the three knew him the longest. Tony cynically smiled as hes hook his head, his grief was plain as day. "He was an idiot."

"Why? For believing?"

"For taking on Loki alone." Tony said before walking away from the sealed pit where the cell was dropped through and closer to the walls, Steve came closer as they stood face to face talking. "He was doing his job."

"He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have..." Tony started to blabber, walking past the Captain whom mildly responded. "Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony."

"Right. How did that work for him?" Tony said cynically, shaking his head. HK-47 seemed inclined to make a comment but one glare from his master told him that if he did then he would most likely be dismembered which his self-preservetion protocols wouldn't allow. Steve responded almost instantly, he was no stranger to casualties and his best friend Bucky had been one of them but as Peggy had told him to respect his decision he had to respect Coulson's right now. "Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?"

At those words, Tony turned around sharply as he spoke to the Captain with a jaded edge to his tone. "We are not soldiers!" Tony then realized he may have overreacted, he couldn't vent his frustration on Rogers like that. "I am not marching to Fury's fife."

"Neither am I. He's got the same blood on his hands as Loki does. Right now we've got to put that aside and get this done. Now Loki needs a power source, if we can put together a list—" Steve started to say, trying to get them move past the grief and Jarik kept himself scarce from the conversation, Captain was the leader among them no questions asked. However Tony looked over to the blood stained wall where Coulson took his last breaths. "He made it personal."

"That's not the point." Steve interjected where upon Tony retorted instantly. "That is the point. That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?" Jarik tilted his head, he knew Tony from the time where he was his liason to SHIELD and he knew that look, he was onto something.

"To tear us apart." Steve answered bluntly whom was curious to see where Tony was going with this. "Yeah divide and conquer is great, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience." The Billionaire genius elaborated to the Super Soldier and the Jedi while the assassination droid remained silent.

"We caught his act at Stuttengard." Jarik mused in thought as he decided to chip in on the conversation for once. Tony curtly nodded as he started gesture with his hands to exaggerate his points. "Yeah. That's just a preview, this is opening night. Loki's a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered—"

He suddenly went quiet, peny in the air and the peny drops. It all clicked in Tony's head first then the others whom exchanged looks. "Son of a bitch." Tony murmured in disbelief.

 **…**

Bruce Banner woke up disorientated and felt like he had just been run over by an elephant or a train. When he snapped his eyes snapped open he understood why. He was naked in human form lying in a pile of bricks and concrete staring upwards into a broken roof of some derelict factory on the east coast. "You fell out of the sky." said a man's voice, "Did I hurt anybody?" said Banner who had yet to see where the disemodied voice originated from but with no luck to be had.

"There's nobody around here to get hurt, Bruce Banner." The voice said with a jaded edge of experience which at the time Bruce chose to ignore as his thoughts dwelled on what he had said about nobody was hurt. "Lucky."

"In my experience, there's no such thing as luck only the Force." Said the voice which perked Bruce's eyebrows as he more intently looked around in hope to find the one who spoke but found no one even when he rose from the pile and started to look around more intently at his surroundings; he couldn't help but feel watched in spite of no human being in sight. "Are you a jedi too?" He talked, dearly hoping that he wasn't talking to himself as it would be really the icing on the cake.

"Once, yes." Said the disembodied voice as the Doctor looked around and tried to think of a rational explanation; telapathy? "What are you if not a Jedi, a Sith?"

"Once, yes." That response sent a chill down the man's spine. Did Jedi covert to being Sith and vice versa. It would make sense as it was a religious interperation of the Force as Jarik had put it during their time in the labratory together but never dwelled much into details about it.

"How can you once have been both but neither now?" Then he froze as if a realization just hit him. "Are you dead?"

"How perceptive of you, Doctor Banner. I'm indeed dead." Banner was in disbelief, he had heard what Thor had said back on the Helicarrier during the briefing that there was some sith and jedi who had transcended beyond death itself through the Force. He had dismissed it as supersition back then even if it was a interesting theory yet to actually met someone was mindblowing. "Mind giving me something more to go on, like how you can do that or even communicate with me when you're dead?"

"The Tesseract is in play thus the barrier between worlds are weakening and even more thinner especially even now Loki on the verge of opening a portal to Chitauri Space." The voice answered diligently where Bruce sighed, it all came down to the Tesseract. "You mustn't despair, Doctor Banner. There's still hope, nothing happens by chance. It is the will of the Force and right now, the fate of your world rests on your shoulders."

The voice spoke with a resolve but Bruce didn't see them recovering from this which Loki had wrought upon them so far. "I sense your doubt, Doctor. I know that you're afraid but they need the Hulk." That was a statement he didn't expect but he thought back to his and Tony's chat in the labratory about controlling your powers and hearing now that nothing is a coincidence; does that imply he was meant to be the Hulk and that the other guy actually saved him? "You seem to know so much, where will I be heading."

"New York City." Said the voice bluntly, there was a lot of people in New York if a planetary invasion begun there then the death tolls would be catastrophic. "Alright, one more thing before I go. Who are you?"

"I've had many names during my long life." There a brief pause with an unerring silent in the air which really didn't put Banner or the other guy at ease. "But many knows me as Revan."


	10. Battle of New York

**A/N:** _So it finally begins, the battle for New York. Well, initial parts of it until the cliffhanger (don't say I didn't warn you). Now, would you like to write for an OC in the sequel story "Paladin Rises" which ties in with Phase 2; starting with Iron man 3._

 _If interested; send me a PM with your OC and we'll pitch a personal storyline and prime ourselves for a very creative process (OCs fitting the Mary Sue Archetypes will be ignored)._

 _The preliminary storyline will involve a new weapons manufacturer along with the mysterious Shadow Warrior which for the record is an existing character from the Star Wars Universe._

...

Figuring out what Loki's endgame was or rather the location of it was just the first step. The next was the preperation and logistics. Jarik wasn't entirely optimistic about their chances considering how shattered their ranks now are and how they've lost two of their heavy hitters; Thor and Hulk. Which lead to why he and Stark were welding stuff together. Tony was working on his suit which was damaged during his valiant efforts to repair the Helicarrier.

Jarik was salvaging the half of Darth Maul's double-bladed saber which was rendered useless in their duel. Having been on the run for so long; he had to resort to salvaging to repair and maintain his equipment. With the help of Tony he managed to retrofit it into a Shoto Lightsaber which may be handy to have in the battle to come. However during the process; the crystal changed colour from red to a shade of orange which reminded him of a tiger.

Traversing the hangar launch bay with SHIELD personnel trying to restore the Helicarrier to operational capacity alongside HK-47 to meet up with Captain America, Agent Romanoff along with the now rehabilitated Agent Barton whom has retained his control over his mind. They made their way to one of the Quinjets where the pilot went to meet them. "Hey, you guys are not authorized to be in here—" the pilot start to spoke with a stutter, not entirely sure how to tackle the approach of five Avengers. "We are authorized to be in here and you need a bathroom break." Jarik said as he waved a hand slowly across the pilot face whom nodded affirmly. "You are authorized to be in here and I need a bathroom break." The pilot repeated before leaving the Quinjet without a second thought.

"It's called a mind trick, we Jedi used it a lot before the Clone Wars to solve situation quickly without resorting to violence." Jarik explained before anyone could ask while the other Avengers arched their eyebrows while Agent Barton was staring daggers before walking over to the pilot seat; "I'm trading one puppeteer for another." Barton said under his breath as Romanoff took the co-pilot seat.

"You're full of suprises aren't you, Jarik? " Rogers inquired as he sat opposite of Jarik and HK-47 as they strapped themselves in and prepared for lift off. They had already a plan of sorts, Ironman was to fly ahead as he was faster in his suit to stall the God of Mischief until they could arrive and hopefully stop the Portal from opening. Jarik looked upon the Captain with a frown. "The Force can have a strong influence over the weak-minded. Fret not, that technique was only employed by the Jedi for the greater good and never personal gain."

"Was it really necessary though? I could have talked him down or—" Captain America started to speak but Jarik just shook his head as he leaned forward and spoke sternly to Rogers. "There was no time for coercion, time is of the essence and the lives of six billion human beings hangs in the balance of what happens in the next coming hours." Rogers swallowed, he understood Jarik's reasoning but he didn't like it but they have a world to save and he hoped that they wouldn't be too late.

…

New York City, known across the Earth for various reasons; one being densely populated with over eight million residents and is the most lingustic diverse city in the world. They had skyscrapers which reached for the very skies themselves and were well recognized tourist attractions. In addition to these skyscrapers was the newly constructed and finalized Stark Tower. Little do they know that the world as they know it will cease to exist thought Revan as he observed Professor Erik Selvig on the top of the Stark Tower, the device was active and with the Tesseract within. Revan dreaded for what was to come next, the Tesseract was already thinning the barriers which allowed him to return with the aid of the Force. He was invisible to all but it was a minor consequence as he saw Tony Stark AKA Ironman flying towards the tower in his suit of gold-titanium alloy. The Tower's arc-reactor was offline but too late, the device was already self-sustaining.

"Shut it down, Dr. Selvig." Tony Stark commanded to the possessed scientist; Revan sneered at the sight of the professor whom had quite a thick stubble on his face and didn't seem to have washed himself for days. His eyes were unaturally astral blue like the Tesseract. "It's too late! It can't stop now. He wants to show us something! A new universe." The scientist said eccentricly and with a conviction which could only be found in unwavering fanatics; he sounded like he truly believed every word but Revan knew that wasn't the case; he had no choice but to believe as his free will was constantly supressed by the mind gem; one of the infinity stones which resided within Loki's Scepter.

"Okay." Ironman said bluntly and rather indifferently as he a imed his hands towards the device which retaliated once the repulsor blasts hits the exterior shielding of the energy protecting the device which shattered the blasts with a defeaning crack which sent Professor Selvig backwards while down on the streets many citizens looked up to the sky in hope to find the source of the sound. Ironman was being consulted by JARVIS as he lowered himself on the platform outside his penthouse, walking through the gauntlet which dissembled his suit as he entered. The God of Mischief stood at the terrace with a grin as he entered. "Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity." Loki declared mockingly to Ironman who just retorted. "Uh...actually, I'm planning to threaten you."

"You should have left your armor on for that." Loki said as he gestured with the tip of the scepter as Tony walked down the steps from the walkway to the Gauntlet down to the bar. "Yeah, it's seen a bit of mileage. You've got the blue stick of destiny." Tony pointed as he walked behind the counter of his bar. "Would you like a drink?"

Loki walked even closer with the scepter in hand, his gaze lingering on the smug billionaire. "Stalling me won't change anything."

"No, no, no! Threatening." Tony corrected sternly. "No drink? You sure? I'm having one." Tony Stark said as he search his liquour cabinet.

with what others would've recognized as indifference but to Revan it was courage which he recognized was akin to Mission, the Twi'lek kid whom aided him back on Taris and risked her life on numerous occasions and dared many dangers others wouldn't.

"The Chitauri are coming, nothing will change that." The God of Mischief declared as he walked to the window; looking out to the vast variety of skyscapers and the streets below "What have I to fear?" Loki continued to speak arrogantly as he turned around to face his host.

"The Avengers" Tony said bluntly while the God of Mischief raise an eyebrow in confusion. "It's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. _Earth's Mightiest Heroes_ type of thing." He continued while pouring himself a single malt scotch.

"Yes, I've met them." The God of Mischief said smugly while Tony put on a fake smile "Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one." His smile vanished as he stared into the eyes of Loki. "But, let's do a head count here. Your brother, the demi-God." Loki winced as his distaste for his brother was evident and the very nerve of Tony to call them brothers put Loki on edge which had him start pacing in the pent house. All the while Tony pulled the colantotte bracelets from underneath the bar table and puts them around his wrists as he spoke. "A super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend – a man with breath-taking anger management issues – a couple of master assassins along with a Jedi Knight and his ancient homicidal death machine with sadistic tendencies from outer space." Loki then turned back to coldly stare at the insolent morta with a smug grin.

"And you, big fella." Tony said as he pointed to the God of Mischief as i fillustrating a point. "You've managed to piss off every single one of them." Loki started to close the distance as he retorted. "That was the plan."

"Not a great plan." Tony left the counter with drink in hand. "When they come, and they **will**." Tony warned as with newfound steel to his otherwise indifferent voice. "They'll come for you."

"I have an army."

"We have a Hulk." The answer made Loki frown. "I thought the beast had wandered off." Tony just shook his head as he walked down another pair of steps from his bar to the room where Loki was standing a few paces away. "You're missing the point. There's no throne, there is no version of this, where you come out on top." Tony was stressing to get his point across as he spoke yet again with the same steel in his voice. " **Maybe** your army comes and **maybe** it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damned well sure we'll **avenge** it."

Loki slowly walks up to him; raising the scepter in a matter of seconds having closed the distance. "How will your friends have time for me, when they're so busy fighting you?" The God of Mischief said smugly yet with disdain as he taps his ARC-reactor with his scepter. There was a soaring sound but nothing happens. With a frown, he tried again with the same result. "It should work."

"Well, performance issues. You know?" Tony retorted, the supressed anger of Loki had reached a boiling point as he grasps the billionaire by the throat and flings him across the room like an angry child throwing his toy away. "Jarvis. Anytime now." Tony desperated croaked with the vocal cords as he grasped fro air, his face was already red when Loki grasped him around the throat again. "You will all fall before me." He declared before throwing Tony through the window with such force which cracked it; sending the billionaire thumbling down to the streets bellow. A few moments later, the elevator behind Loki opened and through it launched a red pod which knocked the God of Mischief off his feet as it flew down right after the freefalling Tony Stark. The red pod cracks open as laser marks searched for the designated markers on Stark's braclets, shifting into the suit which latched on to Tony Stark; effectively activated all systems before he reached the ground where the repulsors sends him back up flying to face the angry god of mischief. "And there's one other person you pissed off! His name was Phil." Loki was raising his scepter but Tony had already aimed his repulsor at Loki and fired, a square hit in the chest which made Loki drop the scepter while the force knocked him back and down to the floor, winded and disortientated by the sudden surge of pain as rays of astral energy soared up into the sky creating a vortex which cracked the sky right open and sucked the nearby clouds as the portal was established and through it; out of the darkness of outer space were flying chariots of war which soared through the sky as the Chitauri forces howled triumphantly.

From there, chaos ensued as the chariots between the skyscrapers as barrages of energy fired upon the streets bellow; cars combusted and terrified citizens drew their last breaths. No prisoners were taken and no quarter was given. Ironman soared upwards in hope to repel the alien invaders; launching missiles which sent a few chariots down crashing but overall had no effect on the seeming neverending army which now soared through the streets of New York City. The Prodigal Knight looked on, saw everything as he felt everything; how lives were diminishing in the streets by the second. Revan could intervene and perhaps make a difference but he had to wait for the oppertune moment or else; all would be lost.

…

Jarik jolted in his seat as he suddenly felt a surge in the Force unlike anything he had ever felt. "Hey, are you alright?" Rogers asked, concerned of how his comrade suddenly jolted and kept wincing as the Jedi felt how the livesigns of one of the most densely populated city on the planet was wavering and diminishing with a newfound fear and terror clinging to every man and woman before they perished. "No, it has begun." No more words had to be spoken as Captain nodded solemnly. "I can't imagine this being easy; you said so yourself that the Tesseract caused a disturbance in the Force but now…" his voice faded as jarik ceased to listen and just felt how vivid the disturbance in the Force was; almost like a energy spike or surge which coarsed through his body.

There was no way the Sith couldn't feel it. Death and Destruction was even now affecting the Force more than people realize as it creates a ripples which will never fade especially now when Jarik knew it will only get worse from here on as darkness descended and shrouded the city with terror and death. However, he felt something else; a illuminating presence in the force which he didn't recognize. It was a light in the shadows of war; a beacon of hope which he had not felt in a very long time. "Captain, may the Force be with us." Jarik spoke with newfound convinction which had the Supersoldier raise a brow but the didn't question it. In spite of their spiritual differences; they respected one another. Instead he nodded because today; they put their differences aside and become something more than just the individuals; they were a team.

…

Echoes of explosions echoed throughout the city streets as Loki stared out from the end of the Ironman's assembling gauntlet with the Scepter in hand and his golden armor materializing above his green garbs. The golden helmet with curved horns sprouding from the forehead bent backwards over his head as he watched how the Chitauri wreck havoc with little opposition or resistance worth mentinioning. His sith allies were now joining the frey, emerging from the shadows with blasters and force pikes; the chaos was spreading like a wildfire in Manhattan and was spreading to Queens and Brooklyn. Loki was relishing the culling in his new kingdom. He then heard something landing on the terrace and out of the corner of his eye; he saw it; he saw him. "Loki! Turn off the Tesseract or I'll destroy it!" bellowed his surrogate brother the god of Thunder now in his full warrior garb and his red cape wavering in the soaring winds with Mjolnir in hand, pointing the hammerhead towards the top of the tower as he made his demand. Loki scowled at his brother as he cracked up a malicious grin. "You can't. There is no stopping it." The God of Mischief said as he pointed the glowing tip of his scepter towards the God of Thunder as he relished every word he spoke. "There is only the war!"

"So be it." Thor said solomnly over how far his brother had fallen but with a steel to his voice; he had a promise to protect Midgard and so he shall to his last breath. With a battle cry; Loki leapt from the Gauntlet platform to the terrace as he heaved the scepter downards horizontally for his brother whom sidestepped before swinging Mjolnir for Loki whomused the shaft of the scepter to block the blow, the clash of metal crakled with power but neither weapon were damaged by the strike. Loki spun around and swung the scepter vertical which Thor expertly dodged whom was an experienced warrior but Loki was tactical as he spun with the momentum of the scepter and place it over his neck and sent a blast of astral energy from the spearhead which was deflected by Mjolnir, the legendary hammer which had been forged in the heart of a dying star. Loki was quick and kept the momentum of his attack alive, he swung the scepter like a bat, aiming to send another blast of astal energy to his brother's face which batted the spearhead away, the blast ripped the letters R and K from the tower and sent them clashing down to the streets below.

There was chaos on the street and every cop was called in, cars was driving past the speed limit but kept it slow while the sirens flared as to avoid running over any of the citizens. They looked up to see Ironman flying and fighting a handful of chitarui in their flying chariots. All the while, the Quinjet booms through, soaring through the skyscrapers of Manhattan. "Stark, we're heading north east." Black Widow announced over coms.

"What, did you stop for drive-thru?" Ironman retorted in a bantering manner; making light of the situation in spite of the severity of it but kept his focus. "Swing up park, I'm gonna lay 'em out for you." the instruction was clear enough as Hawkeye and Black Widonw flew the Quinjet expertly as Ironman lured the chariots away from the street; they had obviously marked him as a priority target and that meant less civilians was getting killed which was a win in Ironman's books. The chariots weren't designed for steep and sudden turns, Ironman used that to his advantage as he flew above street level, turning suddenly which sent one of his chitauri pursuers crashing into the wall as he flew up, and true to his word; laid out the shots for the Black Widow which controlled the garling gun which dropped them down like flies.

"Sir, we have more incoming." JARVIS announced to his creator from within the suit. "Fine. Let's keep them occupied." Ironman declared as he turned and flew back to the portal, catching a glimpse of the two asgardian brothers battling on the penthouse terrace at the Stark tower. At the same time, Hawkeye looked through the window of the cockpit as the Quinjet slowed down. "Nat?" The pilot inquired to his female co-pilot which acknowledged the priority target – Loki. "See them."

The Quinjet turns it head as the swirling turbines kept it afloat with the gatling gun aimed for Loki whom had just swept Thor off his feet and aimed the Scepter singel-handed towards the Quinjet and sent a blast of astral energy for the turbine; a critical hit which sent the jet in a down spiral as it constantly was losing altitide; to put it bluntly they were crashing but thankfuly Hawkeye steered the jet with only one wing and turbine functional to minimize the damage as the slowed down and passed between the skyscrapers and slammed into the street.

Jarik and Steve exchanged a determined nod as they unfasten their seatbelts and rose as the ramp lowered. They made a last weapons and equipment check; Jarik's helmet with the black T-shaped visor slided into place and locked with his full Mandalorian body armor which was further obscured by his Jedi robe and the cowl pulled up to cover the weakspot by the neck; to prevent the cowl to fall off was a magnet sown a few inches from the cowl's brim which now was locked with the top of his helmet.

HK-47's processors were buzzing with joy as he held the heavily modified disruptor rifle while keeping the blasters as backup. Agent Romanoff loaded loaded her pistols firing ballistic projectile and the widow stingers by here wrists providing electrical jolts to every punch she throws and grasps she take. Agent Barton flexed out his bow as his mechanical quiver obviously is connected to the modern composite bow by remote. Steve Rogers was back in his militant and patriotic uniform with the circular vibranium shield as they exited the aircraft into a intersection of many roads.

They were met with the sound of chaos and screaming of terrified citizens. However all subsided when a deep and primal rage is bellowed as through the portal came a creature which could be described as an armored space whale. it was a Chitauri Leviathan and they acted as a tool of shock and awe along destruction as it transported chitauri ground troops which clung to its belly which launched themselves like cannons firing their broadsides; landing and clinging to the concrete walls and sliding down while few come crashing through windows with their energy rifles with synthetic bayonet and open fire. "Stark, are you seeing this?" Captain America said over the coms; unsure of the enemy he's facing.

"I'm seeing, still working on believing." Tony replied in slight disbelief. "I do." Jarik chipped in, reminded them that interstellar conflict wasn't new to him.

"Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?" Tony inquired through the coms which had the Avengers with exception of Paladin and HK-47 raise their eyebrows. "Banner?" Rogers asked slightly confused while Paladin cracked a smile, Tony clung to hope in the face of impossible odds. "Just keep me posted." Iron man replied before turning his attention to the Leviathan. "Jarvis, find me a soft spot."

…

Revan watched the fighting between the two brothers – these asgardians. The God of Mischief and the God of Thunder had reached a stalemate where their weapons were locked where Thor was gritting his teeth as he bellowed right into the face of Loki. "Look at this! Look around you! You think this madness will end with your rule?"

Loki caught a glimpse of the destruction which Chitauri was bringing to Earth, Revan recognized something hesitation. The very first hint of hesitation came as fast as it vanished but Loki was trying to look away. "It's too late. It's too late to stop it."

"No. We can. Together." The God of Thunder said, never stopped believing that his brother was far from being saved but Revan knew that it was a ruse on Loki's part. Sure, he was hesitatant for a moment but he was committed to the cause. Loki looked back to his brother, hinting a smile of brotherly compasion which was as Revan predicted; a ruse which ended with Loki thrusting one of his throwing knives into his brother whom keeled over and lost his grip around Mjolnir. "Sentiment." The God of Mischief murmured in disdain; for once Revan agreed. Emotions had clouded Thor's judgement and it will continue to do so, Loki was lost just like his apprentice and good friend Malek was lost.

Thor rose to his feet; agitated by the ruse pulled of by his adopted brother as he grasped his arms to prevent him to strike with the scepter and kicked him into the glass fence which shattered upon impact. Revan had to admit, in spite of the conflicted emotions; Thor didn't hesitate when it came to fight something he held very dear. The God of Thunder lifted Loki up into the air and slammed him into the ground whom was bleeding minorly by the shattered glass. The God of Mischief rolled over the edge and landed on one of the Chitauri Chariots escorted by five other chariots as they joined the frey in a wedge formation; blasting everything in their path.

By the intersection the Avengers watched the terror unfold. They were all taking cover as Chitauri soldiers were touching down upon the bridge; not far from their position. "We got civilians trapped." Hawkeye said as he nodded to the collective traffic bus not far from their position. He was right, it was filled with people; non-combatans and children. "They are fish in a barrel down there." Rogers said as a matter of fact as he gazed down from the bridge upon the escalating chaos with civilians running across the street and getting hit in the crossfire of explosions and gunfire. Rogers ducked as a chitauri squad opened fire on them; Black Widow was already returning fire before ducking into cover again. "We got this. It's good. Go." She said to Rogers with a calm tone to her sensual voice and cold demeanor. "You think that you can hold them off?"

"Captain." Barton said in acknowledgement to Captain America's question as he triggered a remote mechanism on his composite bow whereupon his quiver automatically picked an arrowhead and attached it to an arrow shaft. "It would be my genuine pleasure." With those words hanging in the air, Hawkeye drew the arrow and put it on the string; pulled it back with ease as he let it go and hit its mark, the head of a chitauri soldier whom jolted as as the arrow head swirled and sent sharpnels into adjatent chitauri; giving Rogers the oppertune moment to vault down from the bridge as Black Widow rose from cover and opened fire with pistols in each hand.

Jarik just moved out of cover and just walked towards the enemy during the firefight. The Chitauri soldiers had their rifles raised and aimed right at him; figuring he was a target of oppertunity and easy prey. He felt the force coursing through him like the blood flowing through his veins; he didn't think, he just followed his instincts and dodged every single shot fired at him even at a walking pace. Then he grasped the lightsaber hilt and ignited the long blue beam of pure plasma; the mere sight of it made the soldiers before him rigid back in what Jarik recognized as fear. He walked forward with the fifth lightsaber form in mind, Shien where he used the enemy's weapons against them by deflected energy bolts into an adjatent enemy then he spurted forward and leapt.

Agent Romanoff had only seen Jarik in action once in Germany against Loki's duplicate but that was from the cockpit of a Quinjet; this time it felt more intimate as Jarik dispatched the chitauri soldiers on the bridge with ease. "You know what I said about puppeteers? I'm glad he's on our side." Barton commented as he drew another arrow and let it fly into another chitauri.

"He's certainly full of suprises." Black Widow admitted as they provided fire support for the Jedi. They soon realised there was a lack of fire support from HK-47, Natasha looked over her shoulder only to find that the assassination droid wasn't there. "Oh joy." she said with a hint of venom in her voice. Where had he gone off to? None of that mattered as Hawkeye pulled back and ran over to the bus with trapped civilians; helping the children out first before pulling the bus doors open; having a flood of scared civilians dashing out of what they thought were to be their graves. All the while Jarik and Natashe kept the Chitauri busy with gunfire and a masterful display of the fifth form o flightsaber combat.

Once the civilians was out of the bus; Hawkeye rejoined the fight as he drew another arrow and let it fly into yet another target. "Just like Budapest all over again!" Black Widow commented, Barton perked an eyebrow as he looked over to the Jedi and then to the Chitauri and their flying chariots. "You and I remember Budapest very differently." The Archer replied to his assassin college as more chitauri soldiers were heading their way. However Hawkeye noticed something admist their ranks; people dressed in black with concealing facial masks with vertical visors heading straight for themwith something thin and long held in their hand. "Sith Assassins!" Jarik bellowed as he seem to have caught sight of them aswell. The Jedi grasped the hilt of his shoto lightsaber and ignited it, the tigereye orange blade was shorter but no less practical as he engaged the two sith assassins using a combined form of Djem So and Jar'kai.

…

HK-47 was running fast, his shots from his disruptor rifle hit its mark every single time; he found it curious that they at first convulsed by the blast before they were disintegrated. He then expertly switched from the disruptor to his blasters; time for some information gathering concerning his targets.

He went ahead to the next floor where found another squad of Chitauri soldiers whom were firing upon the meatbag lapdogs. HK-47 had selected his targets in matter of micoseconds but instead of engaging HK-47 proceeded to take cover. Naturally he could've taken them all out without a fuzz but as per his protocols; he had to learn about his enemy on levels which meatbags would consider unfathomable. He noticed the patterns which the chitauri moved, it was feral like a wild beast yet in synconization with the others. They had to have some technological enhancements as they were as bad as the sand people on Tatooine which was probably still prospering even after thousands of years.

They were amphibians, organic meatbags which had fused their flesh with technology which explained the convulsion when hit by the disruptor. They relied too heavily on their strength in numbers even though they fight in syncronization; they were no match for a true professional whom just had enough of a distant analysis.

HK-47 rose and flung a sonic grenade among the chitauri squad, the sound emitting was paralyzing especially at close distance thus making easy targets. It took him about 4.7 seconds to terminate the targets; all but one which he immobilized by one shot. The others had their squishy components spilling onto the floor of the office building. If there was something HK-47 found joy in, it was terminating targets with extreme prejudice. He secretly didn't care about a killcount but he kept track of it for several reasons. One, for the sake of statistics and two, to make sure that the effecencies of his combat and assassination protocols wasn't slacking as meatbags would say.

However, right now his processors was buzzing with curiousity and anticipation as he examined the immobilized chitauri soldier whom went for his weapon, a big mistake. The assassination droid was faster and fractured the wrist. "Warning: Try something similar again and your termination will be excruciatingly painful." HK-47 conveyed to his chitauri prisoner. He knew every scenarion which was going to play of what the chitauri soldier might do and had a way to counter it. In fact, he had already determined that the chitauri was probably more stupid that the meatbags on this planet. Actually, all meatbags were stupid by HK-47's standards with a few notable exceptions. During the painful process of learning the Chitauri's autonamy, HK-47 discovered why chitauri convulsed before disintegrating from his disruptor. They had neural implants which aligned themselves with their spinal cord which linked all of them together which explained how well co-ordinated their attack were; if they weren't focusing most of their efforts on the Avengers. Revan could've made better use of the chitauri forces; in fact if Revan had been their enemy commander. The probability of victory would be 0.2 percent. Having learned what he needed, he put the miserable chitauri soldier out with a single blaster shot to his head. He had determined a weakspot; they were all linked to a single command hub which was probably beyond that wormhole in the sky. Which meant that if destroyed that there would a power surge in all the neural implants and every chitauri soldier would convulse and die.

If there was a price for the most stupid design or structure of a military in the galaxy or the universe for that matter. Then the Chitauri would take the price.

All in all, it was a good day to be homicidal assassination droid. Yet being highly effective had one downside, the surviving and harmed meatbags from the invasion. "Help—" One of the surviving meatbags was pleading, he was a balding middle aged man in a ruined suit but when he saw whom his rescuer was, he jolted back in fear. "Reassurance: You're not a designated target due for termination, meatbag. I assure you that my timely rescue of your worthless hide was highly accidental." HK-47 said to the baffled man who looked upon with disbelief. "Affirmation: You have nothing to fear from me, for now." with that said, HK-47 left the meatbag to lick his wounds. Naturaly he could terminate the meatbag in the ruined suit but what would be the point? It wasn't about killcount; to him killing was **art**.

…

If having a bad breakfast and bad coffee wasn't enough for the NYPD veteran. They were now in the midst of some fucking invasion right on his lunch break. He and many from the presinc had made a blockade with their cars and was now firing upon the strange invaders. He cursed under his breath as one of the more greener additions to the force. "We need to get out! It will take an hour before they can scramble the National Guard!" He blurted out with a terrified look on his face; so much for professionalism.

"National Guard?" The Veteran said before hearing the soaring sound of a chariot; he grabbed the rookie and pulled him down an energy blast flew right over their heads.

"Does the army know what's happening here?"

"Do we?" The rookie said to him as his hands was fidgeting as he grasped around the pistol right before the most ridiculously dressed man landed on the car right before them. Seriously, he looked like a freaking circus monkey in patriotic colours which has evolved into a man. "I need men in these buildings. There are people inside that can run into the line of fire. You take them through the basement or through the subway. You keep them off the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th." The man said as he pointed with his free hand while his other clung to a strange circular shield as he gave the instruction. Who did het hink he was; Captain America?

"Why the hell should I take orders from you?" With that said, a few more chariots turned around the street corner down their avenue. A big bolt hit an adjatent car behind the strange man as more of these aliens came forth assaulting the man. The Veteran would've thought him to be toast but what he saw next blew his mind. The man moved fluidly and dispatched the aliens with ease. Slaming the shield into the face of the first alien which knocked him down into the pavement before turning around; crouching with the shield infront like a roman soldier. The shield freaking absorbed the blast as the alien lunged with his fist raised. The man was faster and knocked him down as he expertly turned to slam the shield into the first alien whom fel and broke his neck. The second alien lunged again, the man grasped the wrist with the armheld weapon and cut the hand of with the sharp edges of the shield before knocking the alien into an adjatent car like if it was a softball. The Veteran's eyes widen in realization, it was Captain America!

He turned around and started to convey the orders to his fellow officers at the NYPD which had come from Captain freaking America! "We need men in those buildings, lead the people down and away from the streets." He grasped the radio and spoke into it. "We are going to set up a perimeter all the way down to the 39th street."

Far above them, Ironman was swerving around a skyscraper and unleashed a volley of missiles at the Leviathan before flying right past him; in annoyance it turned around in midflight; the tail smashing into the floors of the building as it set its eyes on a new target. "We got his attention. What the hell is step two?!" Stark said as he flew off again with the Leviathan at his heels.

…

The fighting by the intersection close by Stark Tower was ongoing. Jarik was holding his own against the Sith Assassins which were relentless in their onslaught with swings and strikes of their force pikes with the fourth form o flightsaber combat. Meanwhile the Chitauri soldiers were closing in on their position with a few additional sith assassins with force pikes. Jarik barely held his own against the assassins whom used his connection to the force to power themselves. He had to fall back to a combination of Soresu and Jar'kai to hold them off with his two lightsabers.

One of the sith assassins leading the chitauri squad headed straight for Agent Romanoff; believing her to be a weaker target. A big mistake as Black Widow sprung into action, having grasped a chitauri rifle; she blocked and misdirected a swing of the Force Pike before lunging with her widow stingers around her wrists as she grasped the assassin in a choke hold with her thighs before flipping backwards, using the momentum to flip the assassin over and into the pavement while she used her palms to hurl herself right back up with the assassin's force pike in hand as she thrust the end of it into the sith's back, right next where the heart which stopped it aruptly. With her newfound weapon; she spurted towards Jarik and his two opponents; drawing the attention of one of them which gave Jarik some respite. Despite of not having trained together; they fought in syncronization and were now standing back to back as they fought the Sith Assassins. One of them lunged with a force pike and Blackwidow jumped up and kicked him square in the chest while falling backwards where upon Jarik with crouched back allowed her to roll over and push her palms against her shoulders to launch herself and her feet towards the other Sith Assassin. Having suddenly switched opponents which were disorientated by Black Widow's martial prowess, Jarik went on the offensive and dispatched the assassin before he had chance to recover. Black Widow was exchanging blows with the assassin with their force pike duel which ended with the deadly woman dropping down and swung it underneath the sith's feet; dropping him to the ground before Black Widow crushed his windpipes with a well delivered stomp of her light boots. "Thanks." Jarik said whereupon Natasha responded without a beat passing by. "Don't mention it."

Meanwhile HK-47 had rejoined them and had teamed up with Hawkeye in dispatching the Chitauri forces with unparraleled marksmanship; dropping many of the alien invanders along with the other sith assassins. Black Widow couldn't helpt but be concerned about the droid's absence during the initial fighting. HK-47 had just ran of on its on accord for some reason, was the droid really following its programming or had the droid evolved beyond it, it was after all probably older than the Ancient Roman Empire. However such thoughts were dismissed for now as Captain America returned and hurled his shield towards one of the assassins whom staggered back and fell down from the bridge and broke his neck on the impact on the streets below. With the Sith Assassins taking care of Jarik returned in dispatching chitauri soldiers with fast movements and the expert use of his lightsabers; deflecting each and every energy bolt from their energy rifle or hand cannons with precision into an adjatent target. There was a crack of thunder as a lightning strike soon emerged and struck the remaining chitauri soldiers whom convulved and died from the electrocution whereupon the God of Thunder touched down; leaving cracks in the pavement. "What's the story upstairs?" Rogers inquired to Thor whom recognized his authority instantly. "The powers surrounding the cube is impenetrable."

"Thor is right. We gotta deal with these guys." Ironman chipped in through the coms.

"Advisement: The Chitauri have no need for officers as all commands and communications goes through their neural implants which are all connected to a command central beyond the wormhole." The Avengers present looked towards the assassination droid in suprise of the new intel provided. Captain America nodded as he absorbed the information into the battleplans which he was already taking shape in his mind. Jarik disengaged his shoto lightsaber and returned it to his belt as Black Widow made her inquiry to Rogers. "How do we do this?"

"As a team." Rogers answered without missing a beat. Jarik nodded in affirmation to Roger's decision while Barton went ahead to collect his arrows while HK-47 relucntantly complied with the new directive.

"I have unfinished business with Loki." The God of Thunder declared while Barton scoffed a reply. "Yeah, get in line."

"Save it. Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him these things could run wild. We got Stark up top, he's gonna need us—" Rogers snapped at he started to provide his battle plan. However, they all stopped and looked towards the sound of a worn-out motorcycle dying down. They were all suprised to say the least at the sight of its driver; none other than Doctor Bruce Banner himself in a shabby shirt and baggy pants. "So, this all seems horrible." He commented as he looked around, looking like he had just come out on top of a brawl.

"I've seen worse." Black Widow replied bluntly as Bruce turned his eyes towards Natasha and smiled weakly as he murmured his apology. "Sorry."

"No. We could use a little worse." She responded with what Jarik recognized as a genuine smile. In fact, all of them were glad to have Banner back onboard. "Stark? We got him." Rogers announced over the coms. "Banner?" Tony inquired as he navigated through street level with the Leviathan at his heels.

"Just like you said." Rogers confirmed with a smile as things were looking up. Tony immediately responded "Then tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you." and just like that around the corner come Ironman flying straight ahead with the chitauri leviathan howling in primal rage as it flew lower and lower and swept cars and cracked concrete on the street. "I... I don't see how that's a party..." Black Widow said in disbelief.

"Doctor Banner. Now might be a really good time for you to get angry." Rogers said, hopefully. Jarik couldn't believe he was agreeing with that statement which went against the Jedi Code but then again, Bruce Banner wasn't a Jedi. The scientist cracked a grin as he snickered while walking towards the leviathan which was building up its momentum. "That's my secret, Captain. I'm always angry."

With those words said, Banner's body started to swell up as the pigment of his skin turned greener by the second. Muscles stretched out as the skin hardened and became more durable than several layers of durasteel. His tatterd shirt tore up and his bagy pants filled up and torn up. Where once a rugged man once stood was a behemothic being with green skin and pupils; the mere sight of him was imposing. The Incredible Hulk lunged forward at the leviathan and launched a fist right in the face; halting the charging leviathan as the plating stating to chink and loosen by the impact of Hulk's fist, opening a soft spot in the armor which Ironman exploited with a missile launching from the forearm; blowing it up; shredding the cybernetic parts along with the organic tissue which was mostly burned to crisps by the explosion. Rogers raised his shield to protect himself from the blast with Black Widow behind him while Hawkeye took cover behind a cab and Thor held his ground, using his forearm as a shield while looking away like if he was shielding his eyes from sunlight.

All in all, the Chitauri roared out in horror as their ire turned towards The Avengers with one new goal in mind. Vengeance.

Now; they stood in a circle back to back and as Hulk gave the Chitauri a challenging warcry. Next to him was Hawkeye whom notched an arrow to the string as Thor raised his hammer in anticipation of the next stage of the battle. Black Widow entered new clips into her pistols as Captain America steadied his grip of his shield. HK-47 recalibrated his disruptor rifle as Paladin held his primary lightsaber in his dominant hand in a classic jedi ready stance as Ironman stood next to him and looked up at the Chitauri sliding down the building.

Revan was for the first time in a long while smiling at the sight of a new beacon of hope emerging; there was a shift in the Force which the Chitauri or the Sith couldn't ignore as they gazed upon their new advessaries; Earth's Mightiest Heroes and found themselves afraid. Avengers Assemble!


	11. Avengers Assemble!

**A/N:** _Hello there good people! First of, I apologize for the delay of this chapter. It turns out when you're on two weeks vacation and abroad. You end up not getting much done. Thus I decided to make this chapter shorter than anticipated to make up for the period which I kept you waiting. It also gives me some breathing room considering what is about to come down in the following chapters._

 **...**

Loki watches down upon the Avengers from his chariot; sneering spitfully at his so-called brothers and his allies whom were even more intolerable than the Warriors Three. "Send the rest." He commanded to the Chitauri in a condescending tone before looking towards the top of the tower with the device holding the portal open. He saw a glimpse of someone in black, Darth Maul had returned. Loki had to admit that the Sith Cabal had been a useful ally so far and figured that if Darth Maul was but the apprentice then Darth Jadus had to be more powerful. Once his rule was solidified then he would r equest that Darth Maul stays at his Court as an advisor, in truth he wanted to learn more about the Force.

He smirked when he saw another wave of chitauri chariots and leviathans emerge through the Wormhole and more was to come. Thanos had been gracious with lending his army in exchange for the Tesseract. A bargain he wouldn't have struck if it wasn't for Darth Jadus whom was like himself; a pragmatic strategist and visionary. However, it is curious that Darth Maul has not joined the fight himself but whatever he was scheming was of no consequence. As far as the God of Mischief was concerned; victory was his.

 **…**

Natasha Romanoff almost gulped at the sight of the next wave of chitauri invaders. This wave was larger and had more of those armoed space whales. "Guys." They all turned to see what caught the Black Widow's attention. Jarik could sense that Tony Stark was nervous underneath the suit. Was he getting cold feet? "Call it, Cap." Ironman said, suprising the others somewhat that he surrenders his solo play to be a team player. Captain America nodded in appreciation to have been acknowledged as team leader. "Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal up there, our priority containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or your turn it to ash."

"Wanna give me a lift?" Barton inquired to Ironman whom grasps the Archer. "Right. Better clench up, Legolas." Ironman verbally jabbed as he flew up with Hawkeye to a nearby roof.

"Thor, you've gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You've got the lightning. Light the bastards up." Rogers instructed to the God of Thunder whom swirled the hammer in his grip before hurling himself away in flight. "HK-47, you're going to identify and neutralize designated targets such as Sith Assassins and Chitauri endangering civilians." HK-47 nodded as his seemed to chim in approval. "Affirmation: Assassin protocols activated, this will be fun." The Assassin Droid responded as he raised his disruptor rifle in perfect vertical alignment before rushing off.

"The rest of us will stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here – And Hulk." Captain America told Black Widow and Paladin before turning to the Hulk whom swirled around; in all honesty the sight of him in close proximity would've given an venerable citizen a heart attack. "Smash." That one word brought a huge ande magnificent grin on the Hulk's face whom leapt high up in the air and pinned a chitauri soldier to the building wall, grasping the alien before pushing himself away in a leap to adjetant building with even more aliens scaling the wall. The Hulk smashes the alien from the first alien into another where the remaining chitauri soldier is grasped and whereupon thrown into the window of another building in the middle of Hulk's leap. He grasps the building side as he scales it to build up momentum for his next leap; crashing into a chariot knocking it and its adjetant wingman out of altitude and plunging down into the streets bellow.

Simultaniously, Thor had flown himself to the top of the Empire State Building. He grasps one hand around the top as reached his hammer, Mjolnir up into the Sky and summons the might of thunder and lightning; the energy surged through him and the tower's tip which was now being used as a super conductor to magnify the reach of his lightning.

Thor turned his ire towards the Portal where another wave was coming through and he struck, the power of lightning reaching and engulfed the portal, using it not only as a bottleneck but also as a killzone as the entire third wave was wiped out as two leviathians convulsed and exploded magnificently and took out the majority of the adjatent chariots.

 **…**

Darth Maul looked down from the roof of Stark Tower, he had analyzed the battle from the start and had come to witness how these Avengers proved to be quite an obstacle in Loki's campaign to conquer the Earth. He knew enough from his training with Darth Sidious and his time in the Clone Wars along that Loki wasn't a formindable commander, he focused all efforts on the Avengers which is what they want to begin with. The Zabrak recognized that Loki would be a poor excuse of a King but his master was seldom wrong about his premonitions and one of them was that Loki would be King but not of Earth and he could see why. Nevertheless, he had his own agenda to follow through, the strong will always prevail and today he shall prove himself stronger than the Jedi. He looked over his shoulder at the still unconcious Professor Selvig and grinned sinisterly.

He turned and walk from the tower edge towards the unconcious astropyshist and the Tesseract. Darth Maul could sense it and feel its power and a plan came to mind. The Tesseract was strong with the Cosmic Force thus he could use it to affect the Living Force and make himself stronger like the Sith Emperor of Old had done on Ziost during the days of the Old Republic. He sensed that the astropyshics was coming about.

Darth Maul lowered the hood with the facial mask and promptly removed it, revealing his sickly yellow and bloodshot eyes. His skin was tattoed in a sinister pattern of black and red and like any Zabrak, he had Small horns growing from his cranium which decorated his head like a crown. He removed his dark robe and left him only with the black garments of the Sith with his lightsaber in hand as Professor Erik Selvig stared up at him in horror. "Don't move and you might live a bit longer." The Sith Lord warned menacly as he looked down upon the terrace where the scepter laid. Darth Maul reached out and it flew to his free hand. "Wha-at, are you go-oing to do?" The Professor stuttered in fear whereupon Darth Maul only answered with a sinister grin.

 **…**

He was panting heavily in fright while being dragged by each arm an alien towards what he presumed was his execution. So much for earning some cash by assisting his pal Mike at his hotdog stand outside Stark Tower and almost get crushed in the process. Maybe he should've stayed in Sweden and not chosen to understand the American Dream. He wasn't too much into science fiction like his sibling but he've seen enough TV-shows to understand what a wormhole is. Secretly he hoped they had come in peace with their chariots and just wanted a shortcut to the United Nations but ofcouse they had to attack and cause this mess. He had for his whole life felt like something is missing and after he had graduated from High School with good scores in Social Sciences. According to his parents and teachers, he was a bright kid and a future ahead of him. Now after having studied at the University of Lund, he had opted for a year abroad. What made him make the decision was a mysterious, he just felt he had too. In hindsight, maybe it hadn't been that good of a idea. The swede looked around to see more people around his age and even younger, minors even. The very sight of that made his blood boil. No matter the situation, it was just plain wrong to put children in harm's way. He had joined the line and forced down to his reluctantly went to his knees.

Strange men in black garments and slick helmets with horizontal visors. They paced and examined them all while the anger was seething inside the Swede. One of them starred at him, the swede couldn't help but feel afraid to be scrutinized in such a way. It was hard to describe but it was like if the man sensed his anger. "You got potential." He said in a monotome manner as he held the slick and thin staff which the Swede presumed was a weapon, an alien weapon. The man looked to the other next to him whom spat in the man's general direction. The strange man just looked and then thrust the tip of the spear into the chest. He convulsed and fell over. The swede was horrified by the sight, he couldn't have been more than seventeen. "What kind of cowards kills children?" He murmured loudly in defiance. The stange man turned to him again. "Silence or you'll be next."

"Then do it. If I am to die then I rather die free." said the Swede as he even in kneeing position held his head high and stared into the visor of his would-be-killer. Sure, he was terrified but as far as he was concerned. They were good as dead anyway. At the very least he can show them the defiance they'll meet beyond New York City. However instead of facing the embrace of death, he felt something. It was hard to describe but a howling in the wind. Out of instinct, he just keeled over as the assailants were swept off their feet by a mysterious force and hurled around, some hit the walls while others hit the pavement while captives didn't dare to move.

There was this whoozing sound which increased in velocity as the Swede looked up to see a man in a strange full body armor with somekind of brown robe whose hood covered the back and some of the flanks of his helmet with the T-shaped visor. Yet of all these things, what caught the Swede's attention was the the blue glowing sword emitting like a solid beam of energy from a cylinder-looking hilt in the warrior's hand which cutted down the aliens at the alley entrance like a knife through butter.

The swede couldn't help but feel something stir inside him, it felt like hope. The mysterious warrior spurted into action and jumped, using the right leg to kick the head of an alien whom was recovering from the concusion obtained by hiting the wall as the sword pieced through the faceguard of one of the black men. Shots were fired from alien's energy weapon which he expertly deflected into adjatent aliens as he landed on the pavement but in the midst of his momentum he went down for a roll, ducking underneath the swing of the spears while also swinging the sword to cut the leg, making the man in black fall down as the warrior came to his feet, his sword went over his head as to deflect an energy weapon from an alien whom had recovered from the initial shock.

The deflection was so accurate it hit him square in the chest, dropping him down dead. The swede was stunned, the warrior had defeated the majority of the hostiles in the alley. His mind was racing, how could he know where to put the sword to deflect the energy bolts and how can he even use that blade! It didn't seem to have any weight. The swede's focus returned to the fighting and the warrior whom after deflecting the previous mentioned bolt while he spun to parry the swing of the last man in black standing before jabbing the gauntlet with somesort of knife into the flank, causing the man to keel over before the warrior placed his boot onto the chest with the blade pointed underneath the chin of the man in black with the bleeding gut.

The warrior faced the entrace to the alley as more aliens entered and determined extended his and they flew away and either clashed into the pavement or into the building wall across the street and neither seemed to be getting up again. "Make a run for it, there's a subway entrance down the street." The warrior said without looking towads the captives. They didn't dare to say a word but just got up and ran while the Swede just stared at the warrior whom turned his ire to the man in black and wave his hand, the faceguard with the horizontal visor was toirn off, leaving a pale-skinned human with malicious eyes staring up towards the warrior. "Why are the Sith allied with Loki." he said with a determined edge to his voice. The swede didn't know if it was a trick of the light but the man's eyes started to glow vivid red. "You know nothing, Jedi." with those word and a smile creeping on the man's face as he suddenly convulsed and stopped breathing all together. The swede didn't knew how to describe it but he knew that sith was dead. He forced up to his feet as his gaze meet that of the warrior whom he presumed was the Jedi turned to face him. "You should get yourself to safety." he said determinedly as he was about to walk out of the alley. "Not without some answers."

"The answers can wait, the city cannot." The Jedi retorted without missing a beat while the Swede couldn't help but feel belittled. "Don't you just walk away from me after saving lives like that. Atleast tell me who you are!" With those words out of his mouth, the Jedi stopped and turned around and stared at him before he responded. "Why would you need to know who I am."

"Because I owe you for saving my life." the Swede responded while the Jedi nodded. "You may call me Paladin." with that said, he turned around and returned to the fight. It was only when Paladin was gone that he realized his mistake, during the conversation he had forgotten to give the Jedi his name.

 **…**

Hawkeye had overwatch from the corner of a rooftop by Park Avenue right bellow Stark Tower. He had been in many firefights and conducted a lot of missions for SHIELD but this took the price. He let loose arrow after arrow at the chitauri whom fell like flies. He noticed the flow of chitauri chariots following Ironman. "Stark. You got a lot of strings sniffing your tail." he commented over the coms.

"Just try and keep them off the streets." Ironman responded, like if it was his plan they were following him which made Barton crack a weak smirk as he drew another arrow. "Well, they can't bank worth a damn. Find a tight corner." he advised as he fired an arrow without looking, hitting a chitauri chariot which exploded promptly. "I will roger that." Ironman responded a bit reluctantly, not sure if he used the right military term with roger but it didn't matter. He lead the chitauri chariots through tightcorners as Hawkeye took aim with a special arrow of his. Hel et it loose at an oppertune moment and hit the chariot. However, instead of exploding it seperated and sent the two halves clashing. One against the building while the other into an adjatent chariot while Ironman lead them through a mace of tight corners and tunnels and finally came through an open parking garrage, all his pursuers had been dealt with. "Nice call. What else you got?" Tony said with newfound respect for the archer guy. "Well, Thor's taking on a squadron down on 6th." Barton responded without missing a beat whereupon Tony feigned being offended. "And he didn't invite me?"

Stark had just flown arond a corner where a Leviathan was making his way through the skyscrapers. The space whale had set his ire upon an office building where the staff was in the conference room was panicking for two reason. One, the space whale. Two, the big green angry guy whom was crushing through the floor and finally through the window. The Hulk had leapt and grasped the lower jaw of the space whale using pain and stimulus to turn it away from the office building.

Jarik Shan dashed through the street, lightsaber in hand as his blade increased the velocity of it swings, to anyone else it would've looked like a flurry and whirlwind in the way he handle his lightsaber to dispatch the Chitauri. However, he was concerned. Why did the Sith round up captives during the fighting? Back in the alley he had sensed the force within that younger man whom called out for him. To say that Jarik was suprised was an understatement. He was among the first humans on Earth which demonstrated force-sensitivity by keeling over to minimize the damage when he made his force sweep. It was odd enough that Sith and the Chitauri was rounding up prisoners but they had been selective, could it be they were looking for force-sensitives? He had to meditate on this further once the Battle was over. He used the momentum of his force-enhanced sprint to leap up on the bridge by Park Avenue underneath the Stark Tower.

Black Widow had just been slammed into the hood of the car where a chitauri soldier tried to pierce her with a bayonett. She avoided the bayonette to the side and was about to retaliate when Jarik arrived. He extended his free hand the chitauri soldier was thrown back. Black Widow turned her ire immediately towards him. "I had him." she said coldly but Jarik recognized the supressed gratitude of hers. Her black jumpsuit wasn't entirely clean anymore with traces of dust from concrete and evidential bruises, even some dried blood from a blunt blow and from the lower lip. "Kih'parjai." The Jedi retorted, The Black Widow just looked at him while panting heavily from the close death experience and didn't understand what he just said. "It's mando'a for _Don't mention it_."

"Is this really the time for linguistic lessons?" She said as she picked up the chitauri energy rifle as she looked up at the wormhole. "None of this is gonna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal." Captain Rogers had just vaulted back up on the bridge. "Our biggest guns couldn't touch it." He answered; both the Jedi and Black Widow looked his way. "Well, maybe it isn't about guns." Natasha responded as the vivid green eyes set themselves on Jarik. "You said the Force was connected to everything, even the Tesseract." Jarik nodded his head in acknowledgement and smiled. The Tesseract was indeed connected to the Cosmic Force and powerfully so. "I think I know what you are getting at, it could work."

"You wanna get up there, you're gonna need a ride." Steve said but it was Black Widow whom answered. "We got a ride. I could use a lift though." Black Widow responded as her eyes peeled upwards towards to the chariots and walked over for a running start as Captain America angeled his shield for the necessary boost. "K'oyacyi." Jarik said as he took position aswell, his precognitive abilities saw a suitable chariot. Captain America raised an eyebrow. "It's a word with different meaninings, in this case." He said before bellowing while making a force jump and landed promptly on the chariot. "Stay alive!"

Swift swings of his lightsaber secured the chariot before Natasha joined him. She had clung to the underbelly of the chariot and had climbed from there. Natasha took over as pilot of the chariot while Jarik vigilantly deflected energy bolts from chitauri riding adjacent chariots. With the sweep of his hand the rest of their pursuers crashed into the buildings.

The other Avengers fought valiantly but most importantly as a team. Ironman flew and blasted the chitauri chariots while also landing to fight back to back with Captain America. He used a prolonged and powerful beam of energy from his chestpiece meet Captain's shield whom angled it to clear the bridge of chitauri forces.

Thor and Hulk fought on the back of a leviathan whereupon the hulk pierced the armor with a chunk of metal and Thor swinging the hammer down, electrocuting it while slamming it down like a hammer slams a nail into wood. The Space whale wailed before plunging down into its death while the skies were kept clear by Hawkeye and HK-47 was pre-occupied with his assassin protocols and the biggest kill streak since his reactivation.

Down in the city, the US Military have joined the battle with a full detachment of humvee vans with mounted fifty calibre machine gun firing at will at the Alien invaders as they entered downtown Manhattan. All the while, Jarik and Natasha was on their way for the Tesseract on Stark Tower using a chitauri chariot. Unknowing of what was waiting for them or the nuclear missile heading their way.


	12. Notice

Hello there folks!

I'm well aware it's been a while since the last chapter and some might have lost interest in the story. I'd like to first and foremost apologize for neglecting this story but I've had difficulties writing the latest chapter. Secondly, I'd like to announce that I'll be revising (or rewriting) the earlier chapters of the story to make it more cohesive and comprehendabl narrative.

Thirdly, I'd like to know what you think about the story and what should be changed to make it a better one.  
Lastly, I wish you a happy new year.

Yours truly,  
efhb1994


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